Coleoptera
awild | August 22, 2008
Ochthebius sp. Minute Moss Beetles (Hydraenidae)
Pyramid Lake, Nevada
Tiny flea like specks
Move among the algal slime.
Oh! Hydraenidae!
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon D60
ISO 100, f/13, 1/200 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | August 15, 2008
Pelidnota punctata - Grapevine Beetle
Champaign, Illinois
Here it is: the first insect I've photographed since moving to Illinois last week. I've been posting a lot of scarab beetles recently, but can you blame me? They're so pretty.
photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon 20D
ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 sec, indirect strobe in white box.
awild | August 13, 2008Our first paper from the Beetle Tree of Life study has been published. Here's the citation:
Wild, A. L. & Maddison, D. R. 2008. Evaluating nuclear protein-coding genes for phylogenetic utility in beetles. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.023
My co-author David Maddison once summarized the point of the paper as "Hey guys! New genes!"
What we've done is develop lab protocols for sequencing 8 nuclear genes that should be particularly useful for inferring the evolutionary history of beetles. It's a foundational paper. We created the methods that will…
awild | July 18, 2008
Apatides fortis (Bostrichidae), the Horned Powder-Post Beetle
Tucson, Arizona
These robust wood-boring beetles have been common at my blacklight in early monsoon season. Good thing, too. We collected a few for the Beetle Tree of Life study, and they've been one of the easier beetles to produce DNA sequence for our project.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
ISO 100, f/14, 1/250 sec
indirect strobe in a white box
awild | June 5, 2008
Derobrachus hovorei - Palo Verde Borer
Cerambycidae
Tucson, Arizona
Every June, hundreds of thousands of giant beetles emerge from beneath the Tucsonian soil. The enormous size of these beetles- up to several inches long- makes them among the most memorable of Tucson's insects. They cruise about clumsily in the evenings, flying at eye level as they disperse and look for mates.
Palo Verde beetles spend most of their lives as subterranean grubs feeding on the roots of Palo Verde trees. Adults emerge in early summer, usually ahead of the monsoon, and by August they are gone.
It is still a…
awild | May 30, 2008
Cymatodera sp. Checkered Beetle (Cleridae)
Arizona
photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon 20D
f/16, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, indirect strobe in a white box
awild | May 16, 2008
Carpophilus sp. Sap Beetle, Nitidulidae
Arizona
The Opuntia prickly-pear cacti have been flowering the past few weeks. Every time I poke at a blossom I find several chunky Carpophilus beetles.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | May 9, 2008
Amphizoa insolens - trout stream beetle
California
Amphizoa are among the more enigmatic insects I've photographed. These dime-sized beetles are found only in the mountains of China and western North America, a disjunct distribution paralleled by a number of interesting taxa, including the giant redwoods. All six species are predaceous and aquatic, living in debris and under stones in fast-running creeks. Because adults have a morphology suggestive of the terrestrial ground beetles, some researchers have proposed that Amphizoa represents an evolutionary transition between terrestrial and…