Mark Sturtevant wrote:
It looks to be a Darkling beetle, family Tenebrionidae. I think the common name of this one is the 'diabolical ironclad beetle' (!) See
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/coleopt/Phloeodes.htm The name is b/c it is reeeallly hard to put a pin thru it in insect collections.
Could an alternative theory be possible in the common name?
These beetles inhabit arid areas. Could the thick exoskeleton be to reduce transpiration? Living long in a killing jar, because the spiricales close tightly for the same reason? I thought I caught a bit of toungue in cheek.
Many insects seem to live a long time under adverse conditions. I use isobutane to kill, or disable moths and delicate specimens. With a large moth, a soaking with isobutane will freeze it. Beetles went into alcohol. Tenebrionids seem to hold out the longest. Collecting at a carcass the specimens went into 50/50 dish soap and alcohol. Then into varsol. Then another dish soap rinse when clean and into a few alcohol changes and store in 70% ethyl. This process or grease ruins specimen and attracts dermestids. Some effort goes into collections even before cataloging can be done. Sippyjug(AKA Gary) and I are corresponding about mounting or preserving insects. I have been doing this a long time, and have done thousands. Preserved many more(in alcohol), and as enveloped dry spcimens. And enjoy sharing knowledge.
Have a good evening, all.
Bill
Bunko.T wrote:
This may end up in the attic but hope not.
There's some very unusual contrasts in humanity. Who would you choose out of these??
If anyone and his best friend, and any one of those top four women were all stranded on a desert island, I bet the friendship would get tested.
Bill
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
It looks to be a Darkling beetle, family Tenebrionidae. I think the common name of this one is the 'diabolical ironclad beetle' (!) See
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/coleopt/Phloeodes.htm The name is b/c it is reeeallly hard to put a pin thru it in insect collections.
A way around the pinning problem.
Wrap the head end of an appropriate sized insect pin with 1/2 inch or so tape to about 1/4 inch diameter. Using a fine file, sharpen to an acute angle, turn to give facets. This creates a cutting micro drill. Spin between fingers. Reason for this was so I could minutin pin mount two mm beetles. They crush too easily to push a pin thru. Once pin went thru body, repeat thru bottom. TEDIOUS??? And then some. Always got a kick out of showing those to someone. How the h-- can you work that small? Got asked that a lot. Then the lable.
Bill
APeeR wrote:
My house flooded during Hurricane Harvey last year. To say it was a setback would be an understatement. I lost most of my gear and just about everything in the house. What I was able to salvage I put into plastic bins and stored at my brothers house. In the shuffle my backup hard drives 6 years worth of macro work were lost. That is until I recently found a second set of portable usb hard drives in my father's old Zero case. To say I am jubilant is an understatement. Looking through the hard drives I thought I'd take the time to share some photos from time to time.
Original Post: July 09, 2017
I have been photographing Damselflies for a few years now and have seen my fair share of territorial defenses. One damselfly defending hunting airspace. This ends with the dominant damsel chasing the intruder off and returning to its perch. On Saturday I witnessed something I have never seen before. The intruder was snagged midair by the larger defender and hauled off for a meal. It was a struggle for the blue victor to lift the prey up to a nearby plant. I quickly honed in, drew focus, and fired off a shot. I feel quite fortunate to have captured a decent image as there was a slight breeze swaying the leaf and the damsel took flight right after the flash fired. It strained to fly deeper in the brush. I tracked it through dense vegetation near the edge of the bayou bank hoping to get another shot but the Damsel finally rested on a reed in the bayou well out the MP-E 65mm focal range.
My house flooded during Hurricane Harvey last yea... (
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Another MPE shooter. Mine is outwitting me for now. I put it in a dark closet to teach me a lesson. Beautiful shot. I have renewed hope😀😀.
Post often.
Bill
sippyjug104 wrote:
While storing items from our RV into the shed I found this spider crawling around. I don't know what it is so please tell me if you know. This image was taken with a 4X microscope objective attached to a Nikon D810 set at ISO 200 and a shutter speed of 1/80th. Flash provided by a 160 watt monolight with softbox with additional white packing foam diffusion. This is a focus stacked image.
Thanks to those who view and comments, recommendations and critique are all highly appreciated.
Beautiful. Not the Loxocelles (yep, I third brown recluse) but the photograph.
People get worried about these spreading. They have been since man became more mobile. I have found three in and near Annapolis. Two were ID'ed by a Smithsonian expert in the field. I worked for them in early 1980's. The third was just like the others. The fiddle is not a 100% ID. The eyes and legs are.
The chance of being bitten are still very slim. I collect and have raised black widows. They are common in Maryland. But we rarely come in contact with them.
They like low growing bushy areas, and lacking this, love the trash and old buildings and junk we humans leave in our wake. In a patch of low bush blueberries I once found dozens. I left most of them there. When teased, they rarely go into offensive, but try to get away. I had to chase the recluse I found.
To rear, use a quart Mason jar with cloth under ring for air, and to prevent babies escaping. The adult female is an interesting creature.
Back to recluse, they are native to Texas. That they are moving north from there is not surprising. Look at all the invasive animal and plants found every year. Spiders are the least of our worries.
Bill
fantom wrote:
There never was a President "Busch".
Day late. Dollar short? Have you bothered reading ALL the related posts?
cessnalvr wrote:
When i flipped the pages i saw it but others did too. If i dont watch my posts the spelling is messed up. Too little a keypad on the phone
I bought a tablet for that reason. The spell check is a major pain when using scientific terms. That I couldn't change.
Got in the habit of previewing and STILL MAKE MISTAKES.
Bill
cessnalvr wrote:
He wasnt president when katrina hit. His son was
You missed my other screw up(corrected a few posts back) where I spelled the name wrong, too.
Thank you.
Bill
B.U.G.S wrote:
They keep getting more odd...first three...then more of what I guess would be called normal....
In #5, the fly must have just told a ribald joke. The grasshopper is blushing.
Bill
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
All very good and especially interesting. Tortoise beetles are rather odd at all stages, except perhaps at the egg stage. As larvae, they sit out in the open, looking similiar to the 'trilobite' pupae shown here. Their abdomen is generally curled upward and to the end they attach a wad of their own excrement and cast skins. This to make their enemies back away in sheer repugnance.
This particular species is Physonota arizonae. If you search further on the same kind of plants that these were on, in time you should find larvae.
All very good and i especially /i interesting. T... (
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If you collected and pinned specimens, you may have noticed that their colours fade quickly, more so in sunlight. I believe the colours are REFRACTED color, like a starling. A waxy coating may be why. The white bloom on aging dragonflies seems to be a wax. A mere waft over a lighter and it is gone. That fuzz on wooly aphids, the same. Lots of unanswered questions in this field.
Bill
traderjohn wrote:
It's Roe VS Wade.
Funny joke.
What do fish eggs have to do with this? Too homophones.
Bill
Nikonian72 wrote:
#1 & #2 are adult Tortoise beetle and nymph.
#4 is a Goldenrod (aka Flower) Crab spider.
Wonder if this will be noticed after all these years. #2 is the shed pupa of the beetle seen in #1. Note how fresh the adult looks.
I recently joined. Looking at past posts, wish I had gotten here earlier. My photography lags my entomology interests by about fifty years. A manque till now,photo subjects endless. Skill level, a lot to learn.
Bill
mleuck wrote:
We never had a President with the name Busch! That Busch made beerl
Double oops on my part. Second prez. Bush. First prez. Bush,RIP.
Bill
tinusbum wrote:
weevil and a really tiny unknown beetle.its a warm day and the bugs are out
The second 'weevil is probably not. I believe it to be an engraver beetle, family Scolytidae. A story about the carrion beetle.
A lady friend, a biology major, and I were collecting along C&O Canal in Montgomery County. MD. Chicken livers are a commonly used fish bait there. I was a bit ahead, had seen a rotting container of livers and these beetles. A few minutes later, she catches up, holding her arm as far away as she could. I started laughing. What the h--- is funny?, her. Pretty, aren't they?, me. She had picked one up from the cup of putrid livers. I had wipes and alcohol, no problem.
She became a much more cautious collector. The lesson? Nature has warning colors for a reason. Pay attention, notes won't help.
Bill
FiddleMaker wrote:
A blonde was sitting in class when the professor asked her if she knew what the Rowe vs. Wade decision was.
She sat there for quite a while pondering this very profound question and finally sighed and said,
"I think that is the decision George Washington made prior to crossing the Delaware".
I thought this was how first pres. Busch handled the transportation problem in New Orleans after Katrina.