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Category: beetles (Page 9 of 14)

Bug of the Week: Tumbling Flower Beetles

June 25, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever spotted a beetle and haven’t been able to figure out what kind it is?

Tumbling flower beetle-11Take these black insects, for example. You might not even be sure that they are beetles.

tumbling-flower-beetles-22Fortunately, I was able to key them out using a new book (see below for details). These are tumbling flower beetles, in the Family Mordellidae.

flower-beetle-closeTumbling flower beetles are distinguished by their wedge shape and the fact their elytra (hard wings) do not cover the abdomen.The abdomen is pointed at the end, as well.

They are called “tumbling” because the adults have an odd behavior of awkwardly jumping away from predators that leads them to tumble. The “flower'” part comes from the fact the adults are often seen at flowers feeding on nectar.

Have you ever seen tumbling flower beetles tumble? How would you describe it?

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The book I used to identify the insects is Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans, just published this month.

This book is an extensive desk-top reference for those interested in beetles. Along with the illustrated key to common beetle families, it contains detailed descriptions of 1,406 different species of beetles, each accompanied by a good sized full-color photograph.

In addition to helping with identification, Beetles of Eastern North America is also a fabulous place to start learning about beetles in general. There is an extensive introduction covering anatomy, natural history, where to look for beetles, how to observe and collect them, etc. It is filled with information, even the end paper in the back has a ruler and illustrations of beetles with their parts labelled.

Are you interested in working with beetles? On page 52, Evans discusses how to become involved in beetle research, encouraging students and amateur naturalists to participate in citizen science.

Examples of beetle-related citizen science projects:

Beetles of Eastern North America definitely is worth consideration if you have ever wondered, “What is that beetle?”

Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press (June 8, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691133042
ISBN-13: 978-0691133041

Disclosures:  This book was supplied by the publisher for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate for Amazon, and if you click through the linked titles or ads and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Proceeds will be used to maintain this self-hosted blog.

 

Bug of the Week: Beetle Life Stages

April 30, 2014 / / 2 Comments

Most of us recognize the life stages of butterflies, but what about beetles?

 

scarab-beetle-grub-100For example, would you know this larva would turn into a beetle?

scarab-beetle-grub-200Although the head capsule may look a bit like a caterpillar, this is a beetle larva commonly called a white grub. It lives in the soil and will turn into a type of scarab beetles called a “June beetle.”

seed-beetle-pupa-111

Here’s an odd one. I found this in a mesquite seed pod. It is about the size of a small grain of rice.

seed-beetle-pupa-100Turning it over, it has two dark spots, which are the developing eyes. This is the pupal stage of a seed beetle or bruchid.

seed-beetles-eggs

The seed beetles lay their eggs on seeds of legumes like mesquites, within the seed pod. Can you see the white eggs that look like sesame seeds attached to the larger brown mesquite seeds?

The larvae, which look like small versions of the white grub above, feed inside the seeds and then cut their way out to pupate. You can see the holes in the seeds and the round caps on the left of the photograph where the larvae cut their way out.

seed-beetle-close

Soon the seed beetle pupa will become an adult like this one and go look for a place to lay its eggs.

Have you ever found beetle immatures before? Where did you find them?

 

 

Bug of the Week: Leaf or Flea Beetles

April 16, 2014 / / 2 Comments

What is eating the nasturtium flowers this week?

nasturtium-what-is-eating

I noticed some holes were developing in the flower petals on Saturday.

flea-beetle-222

A few of the flowers were covered with leaf or flea beetles. They are small, shiny black beetles with enlarged back legs.

flea-beetle-okay

The beetles seemed to have arrived from nowhere. When I went to check them again today, they were all gone. I wasn’t too concerned anyway because the nasturtiums had already produced a lot of seeds and they are getting to the end of their season. In a few weeks the heat will cause the plants to collapse and I’ll pull them out.

These might be the same kind of beetles that are commonly found feeding on Mexican evening primroses here. I know there are some flowering in the neighborhood.
I’ll have to check them.

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