Darkling
I like darklings. They just get out and truck around, oblivious to danger around them. You know, on account of them being armored vehicles.
This one crawled out of my lawn and onto the sidewalk as I was passing by. Normally darklings are kind of sluggish, but the ambient temperature was close to 38°C (100°F) and for a thermally-driven metabolism that means you can run at top speed. And this guy was taking advantage, moving at a speed I normally associate with ants a tenth his size. He was cruising.
Does anyone out there know if darklings can fly? I get the impression that they can’t. They are Coleoptera (literally: “hidden wings”) which means they should have a pair of flight wings under their shell wings, but I’ve never seen one unfurl and go.
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
David Brady said,
July 16, 2008 @ 7:03 am
Buffer Status: 1! OMG! It’s not zero! I’m not counting JFargo’s post for tomorrow, either. Friday’s post is written up and scheduled. Even if I die today, you won’t run out of InsectPOD until Saturday.
Go me!
Kit Watson said,
July 16, 2008 @ 7:04 am
Woohoo!
And please don’t die today. I need my fix!
Parkway said,
July 16, 2008 @ 7:52 am
Wings are fused, which helps cut down water loss - at least, according to the almost infallible web…
Steve said,
July 16, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
Hey, a friend pointed me to your site. I found a stag beetle at work today and snapped a couple pics, if you want to post one.
Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!