Insect Picture of the Day

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“He’s dead, Jim.”

Unfortunately, this giant* beetle had passed on before I got to it, but left a beautiful corpse. I know it’s not common to see a dead bug on this site, but David said that I was in charge of the days that I update, and so you see this dead bug because it’s large and interesting to look at. Rest assured it died of natural causes. Probably.

The research on this was pretty cool, really, and I learned a lot.  First, when I read the name I tried to imagine one of these huge bugs burrowing through the ground to find a root**, but couldn’t imagine how they’d do it.  Then, I learned that it’s the larvae that eat the roots by burrowing through the tree down to the tasty bits.  Okay, that makes sense.

Reading on, I learned that these beetles, as they mature, move up the tree and begin living in the foliage.  After a few minutes of thinking about this, I slowly stood up from under the tree, picked up my wireless laptop, and moved back to the patio.  I’m okay with bugs, and have generally gotten over my tendency to utterly freak out if they land on me, but I can’t imagine I’d be serene and calm if one of these suddenly fell from above to land in my lap.  I’d imagine, in fact, that that would be one beetle that didn’t die of natural causes.

*Okay, maybe not as big as this bug, but big for a North Delawarean bug at about two inches long!

**Where it would then read it the dictionary, which is very Boring.

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Last week the ladybugs were swarming and somehow a couple dozen ended up inside my house. They’re pretty and not much of a bother so I was content to let them.

This one was trundling across the kitchen floor when I thought, “I wonder if she would like a drink?” I offered her one, by way of dripping some water on the floor in front of her. She was quite appreciative and stopped for several minutes to tank up. This gave me more than enough time to get the camera and take a few pictures.

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This second picture presents a bit of a quandary. I like the pose better, but I like the dynamic shot angle of the first photo. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve gotten in the habit of running twofers now and then.

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Earlier this summer I went out in the woods behind my house, searching for insects to submit to this website.  I found more than a few bugs, but nothing wanted to stand still long enough for me and my little camera to take a good photo.  I must have been out there for an hour or so, crawling around the woods in search of some Really Cool Bug ™, but in the end I came back with shots that were blurry, and just not very good.

Defeated, I walked into my backyard, and paused.  Did something just move on the fence?  A closer look revealed this little beauty!  I was really pleased, because I don’t often find Lightning Bugs during the day time, and I personally think they look pretty cool.

While researching fireflies (a different name, but the same bug) I came across something interesting that I thought I’d share since it was definitely news to me.  Apparently their light-up butts* contain luciferin and luciferase, two rare chemicals used in research on cancer, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and heart disease!  I don’t know what kind of results they’re getting, but I think it’s pretty cool that something that fuels so many childhood evenings with a bit of magic and fun could also help save people from pain, disease, and even death!

*Heheheheh.  Butts.  Yes, I am a child.  Why do you ask?

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Everybody give a warm welcome to Rich Jakiel, who debuts here today with a great picture and an even better story. I admit that I am biased: I love science stories. And Rich’s science is the best kind of science story.

If I tell you the name of a bug, you get a word for it, but what do you really know about the bug? Nothing but a word. Worse, you might now think that you know all about the bug, and you miss out on all kinds of fascinating knowledge: how it looks, how it behaves, how it interacts with its environment. You miss out on things like “what is this bug trying to do right now, and why do you think it’s doing that?” You miss out on all kind of interaction behaviors, like “what happens if I do this?” And most importantly, you miss out on the opportunity to ask questions and then seek the answers, which is the ultimate building block of science, really.

The awesome thing about this question process is that you and I formulate different questions. This stag beetle is about 4cm long–nearly an inch and a half. I look at it and wonder “can it fly?” You might look at it and ask, “is it aggressive or defensive when I get near it?”

Not Rich. Rich took one look at those pincers and asked, “how hard can they pinch?” Here’s his own account of the story:

I put my finger between the mandibles and he decided to attack. The stag beetle latched on and bit the [censored] out of me. It sunk those needle-like mandibles a good 1/8″ or more and drew copious amount of blood. It was like a bug bulldog and wouldn’t let go.

Rich’s full account is here (Warning: strong language).

Thank you, Rich. Great picture, and AWESOME Science Story!

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I’m fairly new to this game of “What Bug Is This?”  Bugguide.net has been a huge help, but I’m still at the point where I turn to someone more expert than me in the field to help me figure this stuff out.

So my email to David went something like this:

“David, so that you have more time to do things like have a life outside of Insect POD, I’d love to write more guest posts.  On that note, could you spend the next five hours researching this beetle to figure out what it is?  Thanks!”

To his credit, he helped me out quite a bit.  With great confidence, and the knowledge he has gained through all the time he’s been doing this, he let me know that it’s definitely a beetle.

Heh.

Well, okay, that was how he started his email (”Okay, I’m fairly certain that it’s a beetle…”), but he went on to say that it’s probably of the order Coleoptera, and while he had a few really good guesses as to what it could be, he wasn’t entirely sure.  He gave me a few really useful links, and suggested I dig around a bit.  At the very end of his (long and helpful) email, he mentioned that I should submit it for identification.  For some reason, this had never occurred to me, and hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I submitted the picture, which was quick and painless.

Within moments I was realizing that I’d have to wait longer.  Unfortunately, I’m one of many, many people who want professional bug-ologists* to tell them what their bug is.  So, a no-go this time, but then I had a thought:  There’s a whole audience of smart bug people on Insect POD!  Don’t worry about an ID, because someone there will probably know!

So, that brings me to where we are today.  One of you holds the key to solving this mystery, and I’m hoping you’ll enlighten me.  This large beetle, about a half inch in size, was found in Washington DC in the summer.  Do you know what it is, or what it might be?  I’d love to know!

*Scientists who study insects.  It might not be the official term.

EDIT:  Kit Watson hits it right on the nose in the comments with what this beetle actually is!  I had a last-minute confirmation from Bugguide.net that this is indeed a False Potato Bug, and before I got in here to update it, Kit had it ID’ed!  Good eye, Kit, and thank you!

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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.

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When my wife called me over to take a picture of a “really cool bug,” all I could think of was that she’s really changed since that day she yelled to me about a ladybug infestation, and how much she’s changed since then, looking at the beauty of the bug instead of the fact that it’s a bug.

So looking forward to taking a picture of some neat bug, I climbed the ladder and froze.  I remembered laughing at the fact that she called two ladybugs an infestation, and realized that sometimes even just one of something can feel like a full-blown infestation.

See, when I was a kid I saw a swarm of Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) completely destroy my father’s newly planted garden.  In minutes.  I just planted a new garden in my backyard, a dozen feet from where this was spotted.

Aptly called the piranha of the insect world, a swarm of Japanese Beetles can strip a peach tree of all but pits and branches in 15 minutes according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.  My tomato plants don’t stand a chance.

Thankfully, we’ve seen very few of these beetles in the area.  I find them absolutely stunning to look at, and love the “Karate Kid” crane-kick position they often adopt, but can’t forget the absolute devastation I’ve  seen them leave behind.

Their  beauty is nothing when compared to the possibility of losing my tomatoes.  I like my tomatoes.

I have to go.  I’m JFargo, and I’ve got a garden to protect.

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Sing it with me! The ladybug larvae on the bus go… um… they go… um…

What do the ladybug larvae on the bus do?

Reader Michelle from the UK sent this picture in right after ladybug vs. aphid week, and I wish I’d gotten it up at the time, because Ladybugs were totally taking the “we’re cute!” title and the aphids would have LOVED to enter this photo in the “but your babies are ohmygoodness ugly” category.

The ladybugs would have simply smiled. That might be a bug only a mother could love, but guess what? Ladybug larvae eat aphids, too. RAWR! (Admittedy, it’s a very tiny RAWR.)

THAT’S what the ladybug larvae on the bus do!

The ladybug larvae on the bus make the tiniest RAWR!, the tiniest RAWR!, the tiniest RAWR!

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Jeremiah Fargo sends in this picture of an interestingly-spotted ladybug. I’m not sure on the exact species, but I think it’s either Guernsey or Holstein.

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Last night I was up late, with a single light on in the living room. It’s Summer now, so we had all the windows open, and even though there are screens a good number of bugs find their way into the house. At one point I noticed this small beetle (about 5mm long) trundling across the carpet. When I got down close and took some pictures, I noticed a small gnatlike bug walking across the carpet. Suddenly I became aware of tiny movements all around me: in the square meter of carpet around this beetle, there were perhaps two dozen gnats, beetles, and assorted other bugs. Yikes!

Then something plopped on my head. It bounced immediately to the carpet: another tiny beetle! What on Earth…?

I looked up. I was directly under the only light still burning in the house, and it was aswarm with tiny flying bugs. Every once in a while one would hit the glass cover with a solid tik sound and fall, stunned, to the carpet below.

The other day tceisele mentioned that he planned to do a “square foot” project, and count all the bugs he can find in a square foot of his yard. I think this is a fascinating project idea. Is it cheating if I bait them like this?