Beetles In The Bush

Winter botany quiz #1

Posted on February 21, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Can you identify these plants and tell what they all have in common (#1-5)? Answers and more in the next day or two.

Bonus – Identify this plant:

Posted in Betulaceae | Tagged Botany, Missouri, nature, quiz, science, shrubs, trees | 11 Comments

Millipede assassin bug

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

I continue the hemipteran theme begun in the last post with this photograph I took in South Africa below the Waterberg Range in Northern (now Limpopo) Province. I recognized them as members of the family Reduviidae (assassin bugs), and since to my knowledge species in this family are exclusively predaceous (except for the so-called “kissing bugs” of the mostly Neotropical subfamily Triatominae, large distinctive bugs that feed exclusively on vertebrate blood), I found what I took to be a case of scavenging on a dead millipede to be rather curious. It had rained the previous evening, resulting in a burst of millipede (and insect) activity that night, and this scene was rather commonly encountered the following morning. Of course, appearances can be deceiving, and it turns out that I actually was witnessing predation – and a most unusual case at that. The individuals in this photo represent Ectrichodia crux (millipede assassin bug), a common species in many parts of southern Africa. Although nearly 500 species of assassin bugs are known from the region (Reavell 2000), E. crux is easily recognizable due to its large size (adults measure up to 22 mm in length), stout form, and coloration – shiny black, with a distinctive black cross incised on its dull yellow thorax and with yellow abdominal margins (Picker et al. 2002). The nymphs as well are distinctive – bright red with black wing pads. Clearly, these insects are advertising something.

Ectrichodia crux belongs to the subfamily Ectrichodiinae, noted for their aposematic coloration – often red or yellow and black or metallic blue, and as specialist predators of Diplopoda (Heteropteran Systematics Lab @ UCR). Species in this subfamily are most commonly found in leaf litter, hiding during the day under stones or amongst debris and leaving their shelters at night in search of millipedes (Scholtz and Holm 1985). They are ambush predators that slowly approach their prey before quickly grabbing the millipede and piercing the body with their proboscis, or “beak.” Saliva containing paralytic toxins and cytolytic enzymes is injected into the body of the millipede to subdue the prey and initiate digestion of the body contents, which are then imbibed by the gregariously feeding assassin bugs.

Millipedes employ powerful chemical defenses – primarily benzoquinones and sometimes hydrogen cyanide gas as well, which are discharged from specialized glands along the millipede’s body – to protect themselves from predation. Thus, specialized predation of millipedes is a niche that has been exploited by relatively few predators, and little is known about the mechanisms used for circumventing these defenses. The recently reported millipede specialist, Deltochilum valgum (order Coleoptera, family Scarabaeidae), has been observed killing its prey by violently decapitating and disarticulating it before feeding on the body contents (Larsen et al. 2009, summary here); however, the exact manner by which the beetle avoids or withstands the millipede’s chemical discharges remains unknown. For ambush predators such as Ectrichodia crux and other ectrichodiines, a strategy similar to that described for another millipede specialist predator, larvae of the phengodid beetle, Phengodes laticollis (order Coleoptera, family Phengodidae), might be employed. This species subdues its millipede prey by piercing thinner regions of the millipede’s integument (e.g., intersegmental membranes on the ventral surface) with its hollow sickle-shaped mandibles and apparently injecting gastric fluids that abruptly paralyze the millipede, thereby preventing it from discharging its gland contents (Eisner et al. 1998). These undischarged benzoquinones remain confined to the glands and are prevented from diffusing into the body cavity by the glands’ impervious cuticular lining, thus allowing the phengodid larva to safely imbibe the liquified systemic contents of the immobilized millipede.

REFERENCES:

Eisner, T., M. Eisner, A. B. Attygalle, M. Deyrup and J. Meinwald. 1998. Rendering the inedible edible: Circumvention of a millipede’s chemical defense by a predaceous beetle larva (Phengodidae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95(3):1108–1113.

Larsen, T. H., A. Lopera, A. Forsyth and F. Génier. 2009. From coprophagy to predation: a dung beetle that kills millipedes. Biology Letters DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0654.

Picker, M., C. Griffiths and A. Weaving. 2002. Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 444 pp.

Reavell, P. E. 2000. The assassinbugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) of South Africa. http://oldwww.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/zooento/Martin/reduviidae.html#ectrichodiinae.

Scholtz, C. H. and E. Holm (eds.). 1985. Insects of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durbin, South Africa, 502 pp.

Posted in Diplopoda, Hemiptera, Reduviidae | Tagged assassin bugs, bugs, chemical defenses, entomology, immatures, insects, millipedes, nature, predation, predator avoidance, science, South Africa, warning coloration | 18 Comments

Bizarre, beautiful extremes

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

No niche, it seems goes unfilled. Specialization is likely to be pushed to bizarre, beautiful extremes.–E. O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life

Wilson didn’t mention treehoppers specifically when he made the above quote, referring to the exuberance of extreme behavioral and morphological adaptations seen in the biota of the tropics, but he could have just as easily led off with them. Treehoppers (order Hemiptera, family Membracidae) are well-known for their variety of oddly grotesque shapes resulting from a curiously inflated pronotum – presumably having evolved to resemble thorns and buds on their host plants, or the ants that vigorously defend numerous treehopper species in exchange for their sweet honeydew, or perhaps to aid in the dispersal of volatile sex pheromones (an attractive hypothesis but lacking experimental support). Despite inordinate attention in relation to their low economic importance, it remains that the pronotal modifications of many treehoppers are so bizarre that they continue to defy any logical explanation.

I must admit that, despite my passion for beetles, treehoppers were my first love. (Well, actually anything that I could bring home from my solo wanderings in the urban woodlands and vacant lots near my childhood home and keep alive in a terrarium was my first true love, but from an academic standpoint, treehoppers were the first group to arouse my taxonomic interest as I began my transformation from child collector to serious student.) I had just begun graduate school in the Enns Entomology Museum under the late hemipterist Tom Yonke to conduct leafhopper host preference and life history studies, and although far more Cornell drawers in the museum contained Cicadellidae, it was the treehopper drawers that I found myself rifling through each afternoon after completing the day’s thesis duties. Despite their lesser number, the treehopper drawers had recently benefited from the attentions of a previous student, Dennis Kopp, whose efforts during his time at the museum concentrated on collecting treehoppers from throughout Missouri and culminated in the four-part publication, The Treehoppers of Missouri (1973-1974). I was enamored by these little beasts – specifically by their exaggerated pronotum – and started collecting them whenever I could on my forays around the state surveying for leafhoppers. They were closely enough related to leafhoppers to make them relevant to my work, only cooler – like leafhoppers on steroids! With The Treehoppers of Missouri as my bible and my desk located a half dozen footsteps from the largest treehopper collection within a several hundred mile radius, I delved into their taxonomy and, for a time, considered a career as a professional membracid taxonomist.

Fast forward nearly 30 years, and my involvement as a taxonomist is neither professional nor deals with membracids. Beetles have taken over as my focal taxon, and I conduct these studies strictly as an avocation. Still, I continue to collect treehoppers as I encounter them, and although such efforts have been largely opportunistic, I’ve managed to assemble a fairly diverse little collection of these insects as a result of my broad travels. Much of this has occurred in the New World tropics, and it is this region that is the center of diversity for the family Membracidae (fossil evidence suggests that subfamily diversification and subsequent New World radiation began during Tertiary isolation about 65 million years ago after South America separated from Africa, since only the primitive subfamily Centrotinae occurs in both the Old and the New Worlds – all other subfamilies are restricted the New World (Wood 1993)). Every now and then, as I accumulate enough material to fill a Schmidt box, I sit down and study what I’ve collected, comparing it to my meager literature to attempt identifications. For material I collect in eastern North America, this works fairly well, as there have been a number of publications covering different parts of this area. Outside of this area, however, my only hope is to entice one of the few existing membracid specialists into agreeing to look at what I’ve accumulated and ask for their help in providing names, in exchange for which they will be granted retention privileges to benefit their research.

Most recently, I was able to convince Illinois Natural History Survey entomologist Chris Dietrich to take a look at the material I had accumulated during the past ten years or so, which included many specimens from Mexico and a smattering from other world areas, including South Africa. Chris did his doctoral work at North Carolina State University under “Mr. Membracid” himself, Lewis Deitz, and has since been conducting evolutionary and phylogenetic studies on Membracidae and the related Cicadomorpha. I recently received this material back from Chris (photo above), the majority of which he had been able to identify to species – only a few specimens in the more problematic genera were left with a generic ID.

Campylocentrus sp. (Mexico: Oaxaca)

Hyphinoe obliqua (Mexico: Oaxaca)

Poppea setosa (Mexico: Puebla)

Umbonia reclinata (Mexico: Oaxaca)

Umbonia crassicornis male (Mexico: Puebla)

Umbonia crassicornis female (Mexico: Puebla)

The selection of photos here show a sampling of some of the more interesting forms contained within this batch of newly identified material – all of which hail from southern Mexico. Campylocentrus sp. is an example of the primitive subfamily Centrotinae, distinguished among most membracid subfamilies by the exposed scutellum (not covered by the expanded pronotum). Hyphinoe obliqua is an example of the largely Neotropical subfamily Darninae, while Poppea setosa represents one of the more bizarre ant-mimicking species of the subfamily Smiliinae. Umbonia is a diverse genus in the subfamily Membracinae, occurring from the southern U.S. south into South America. Umbonia crassicornis is one of the most commonly encountered species in this genus, with the photos here showing the high degree of sexual dimorphism it exhibits. As membracids go, these species are quite large (10 mm in length from frons to wing apex for Campylocentrus sp. and P. setosa, a slightly larger 11-13 mm for the others); however, the many smaller species in this family are no less extraordinarily ornamented. I’ve also included a photo (below) of one of the drawers from the main collection after incorporating the newly identified material – this drawer represents about half of my treehopper collection, with the largely Nearctic tribe Smiliini and the primitive family Aetalionidae contained in another drawer. In all, the material contained one new subfamily, six new tribes, 13 new genera¹, and 30 new species for my collection. For those with an appetite for brutally technical text, a checklist of the species identified, arranged in my best attempt at their current higher classification, is appended below (any treehopper specialist who happens upon this should feel free to set the record straight on any errors). For each species, the country of origin (and state for U.S. specimens) is indicated along with the number of specimens, and higher taxa new to my collection are indicated with an asterisk(*). Don’t worry, I didn’t type this up just to post it here – it’s a cut/paste job from my newly updated collection inventory for Membracoidea. Happy reading!

¹Wildly off topic, and perhaps of interest only to me, but two of the genera represented in the material are homonyms of plant genera: Oxyrhachis is also a Madagascan genus of Poaceae, and Campylocentrus is a Neotropical genus of Orchidaceae. Scientific names of plants and animals are governed by separate ruling bodies (ICBN and ICZN, respectively), neither of which specifically prohibit (but do recommend against) creating inter-code homonyms. The number of such homonyms is surprisingly high – almost 9,000 generic names have been used in both zoology and botany (13% of the total in botany) (source). Fortunately, there is only one known case of plant/animal homonymy fr BOTH genus- and species-level names – Pieris napi japonica for a subspecies of the gray-veined white butterfly (Pieridae) and Pieris japonica for the popular ornamental plant Japanese andromeda (Ericaceae).

REFERENCES:

Kopp, D. D. and T. R. Yonke. 1973-1974. The treehoppers of Missouri: Parts 1-4. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 46(1):42-64; 46(3):375-421; 46(3):375-421; 47(1):80-130.

Wood, T. K. 1999. Diversity in the New World Membracidae. Annual Review of Entomology 38:409-435.
.

.
Superfamily MEMBRACOIDEA
Family MEMBRACIDAE
Subfamily CENTROTINAE

*Tribe BOOCERINI
*Campylocentrus curvidens (Fairmaire) [Mexico] – 4
Campylocentrus sp. [Mexico] – 1

*Tribe GARGARINI
*Umfilianus declivus Distant [South Africa] – 3

*Tribe OXYRHACHINI
*Oxyrhachis latipes (Buckton) [South Africa] – 1

Tribe PLATYCENTRINI
Platycentrus acuticornis Stål [Mexico] – 11
Platycentrus obtusicornis Stål [Mexico] – 3
Platycentrus brevicornis Van Duzee [USA: California] – 7
Tylocentrus reticulatus Van Duzee [Mexico] – 4

*Tribe TERENTIINI
*Stalobelus sp. [South Africa] – 1

*Subfamily HETERONOTINAE

*Tribe HETERONOTINI
*Dysyncritus sp. [Argentina] – 1

Subfamily MEMBRACINAE

Tribe ACONOPHORINI
Aconophora sp. female [Mexico] – 1
*Guayaquila xiphias (Fabricius) [Argentina] – 7

Tribe HOPLOPHORIONINI
Platycotis vittata (Fabricius) [USA: Arizona, California] – 3
Umbonia crassicornis (Amyot & Serville) [Mexico] – 73
Umbonia reclinata (Germar) [Mexico] – 8

Tribe MEMBRACINI
Enchenopa binotata complex [Mexico] – 1
Enchenopa sp. [Argentina] – 6

Subfamily DARNINAE

Tribe DARNINI
Stictopelta nova Goding [Mexico] – 9
Stictopelta marmorata Goding [USA: Texas] – 1
Stictopelta pulchella Ball [Mexico] – 11
Stictopelta varians Fowler [Mexico] – 3
Stictopelta sp. [USA: Arizona, California] – 5
Stictopelta sp. [Mexico] – 5
Stictopelta spp. [Argentina] – 6
*Sundarion apicalis (Germar) [Argentina] – 2

*Tribe HYPHINOINI
*Hyphenoe obliqua (Walker) [Mexico] – 1

Subfamily SMILIINAE

Tribe AMASTRINI
Vanduzeea triguttata (Burmeister) [USA: Arizona] – 2

Tribe CERESINI
Ceresa nigripectus Remes-Lenicov [Argentina] – 3
Ceresa piramidatis Remes-Lenicov [Argentina] – 4
Ceresa ustulata Fairmaire [Argentina] – 1
Ceresa sp. female [Argentina] – 1
Poppea setosa Fowler [Mexico] – 11
Tortistilus sp. [USA: California] – 1

Tribe POLYGLYPTINI
*Bilimekia styliformis Fowler [Mexico] – 3
Polyglypta costata Burmeister [Mexico] – 18

Tribe SMILIINI
Cyrtolobus acutus Van Duzee [USA: New Mexico] – 1
Cyrtolobus fuscipennis Van Duzee [USA: North Carolina] – 1
Cyrtolobus pallidifrontis Emmons [USA: North Carolina] – 1
Cyrtolobus vanduzei Goding [USA: California] – 4
Cyrtolobus sp. [USA: Arizona] – 2
*Evashmeadea carinata Stål [USA: Arizona] – 4
*Grandolobus grandis (Van Duzee) [USA: Arizona] – 1
Ophiderma sp. [Mexico] – 1
Palonica portola Ball [USA: California] – 4
Telamona decora Ball [USA: Missouri] – 4
Telamona sp. [USA: Texas] – 1
*Telamonanthe rileyi Goding [USA: Texas] – 2
*Telonaca alta Funkhouser [USA: Texas] – 1
Xantholobus sp. [Mexico] – 1

Subfamily STEGASPINAE

Tribe MICROCENTRINI
Microcentrus perditus (Amyot & Serville) [USA: Texas] – 1
Microcentrus proximus (Fowler) [Mexico] – 1

Family AETALIONIDAE
Subfamily AETALIONINAE

Aetalion nervosopunctatum nervosopunctatum Signoret [Mexico] – 9
Aetalion nervosopunctatum minor Fowler [USA: Arizona] – 2
Aetalion reticulatum (Linnaeus) [Argentina, Uruguay] – 26

Posted in Aetalionidae, Hemiptera, Membracidae | Tagged bugs, crypsis, entomology, insect collection, insects, Mexico, mimicry, nature, predator avoidance, science, South Africa, taxonomy, treehoppers | 8 Comments

How to fail a test with dignity

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to take an exam, but I wish I would have thought of some of these answers when I was stumped:

This student shows promise as future director of The Institute for Creation Research:

This one’s for Bug Girl:

I think this one takes the cake for thinking outside the box:

Elegant in its simplicity:

“Oh dear!” is right:

Technically, this is correct:

I’ll bet some of you professor-types could share a few that top these!

I thank my friend, colleague, and Ozark Trail hiking buddy Rich for sending these to me.

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged blogging, humor | 16 Comments

“Armoured tank beetle”

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Photo details: Panasonic DMC-FX3 (macro setting w/ auto exposure, aperature, and focus), illumination by two 23w compact fluorescent light bulbs. Post processing details: Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6.0 to crop, adjust brightness and contrast, remove pinhead, erase background, and sharpen.

In my last post, I briefly mentioned a beast of a beetle that we had given the nickname “armoured tank beetle.” Using (Picker et al. 2002), I determined this beetle to represent the species, Anomalipus elephas (family Tenebrionidae) – whose actual common name of “large armoured darkling beetle” was amazingly close to our made-up common name (not to mention the appropriateness of its specific epithet) – and linked to an online photograph of the species. As it turns out, the genus Anomalipus is quite large, with 51 species distributed throughout eastern and southern Africa – 34 of which have been recorded from South Africa proper (Iwan 2002). I’ve learned better than to ascribe species names to specimens in diverse groups of which I am not an expert based on a photograph of a common species, so for now this specimen will have to be called Anomalipus sp. Endrödy-Younga and Tschinkel (1993) report that all species in this genus are heavily built with strong legs, with most species being restricted within their geographical range to dense bush-covered patches of woody savanna.

After I wrote that post, I got to looking at the larger of my two specimens and thought, “Gee, I bet I could get a nice shot of that thing.” After all, it measures an impressive 32 mm in length (that’s 1¼ inches, folks!). Here is the result, and I have to admit I’m quite pleased given my equipment limitations (I only wish I’d thought to brush him off a little bit). This really has to be the most beautiful “big, black, ugly beetle” I’ve ever seen. I recall when I was pinning these two specimens that the exoskeleton was so hard I literally had to use my scissors to hammer the pin to get it going into the specimens. I like “armoured tank beetle” better.

In unrelated news, there are a couple of Carnivals everyone should be aware of – I’m doing my part to get the word out:

Circle of the Spineless – Ed Baker over at Invertebrate Diaries is set to host the next issue on March 2, 2009. There’s your deadline!

Linneaus Legacy – The January issue, hosted at Greg Laden’s Blog, was a good one. Seeds Aside is hosting the February edition and is hoping to post it later this week if he gets enough submissions! Go to this post for details on where to submit your post (or those from other blogs you enjoy). EDIT: Too late – edition #16 is now posted.

REFERENCES:

Endrödy-Younga, S. and W. Tschinkel. 1993. Estimation of population size and dispersal in Anomalipus mastodon Fåhraeus, 1870 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Platynotini). Annals of the Transvaal Museum 36(4):21-30.

Iwan, D. 2002. Catalogue of the World Platynotini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Genus 13(2):219-323.

Picker, M., C. Griffiths and A. Weaving. 2002. Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 444 pp.

Posted in Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae | Tagged beetles, darkling beetles, entomology, insects, nature, science, South Africa, taxonomy | 4 Comments

Tempting tok-tokkies

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some of the America’s greatest entomologists were coleopterists. Army surgeons John L. LeConte and his protégé George W. Horn, California’s Henry C. Fall, Col. Thomas L. Casey (much maligned for his mihi itch¹ affliction, although in recent years regaining due respect for his insight on generic relationships), and “the Professor” Josef N. Knull, just to name a few. What did these fine men have in common? They studied beetles – not just tiger beetles or jewel beetles, but the entire order! The world was much smaller then, and new information was generated at a much more leisurely pace. Today such an approach is impossible. With 300,000 described species in the order (conservatively) and growing, today’s students of Coleoptera must narrow their focus in one way or another – either by concentrating on one family or ecological guild, or by restricting their studies to a small geographic region. I’ve tried, more or less successfully, to follow suite – jewel beetles are my primary focus, and I restrict my work with the ecologically similar longhorned beetles only to North American species. Well, and I’m also working on tiger beetles, but only in Missouri… although I have begun taking fall tiger beetle trips to neighboring states. Hmm, on second thought, I guess I haven’t been that successful at focusing (sigh! – and a likely explanation for my perpetual backlog of specimens unprocessed and papers unwritten).

¹In taxonomy, a term usually cast towards those who have a combination of disregard for quality over quantity when describing new taxa and a demonstrably high ego (Evenhuis 2008).

Whatever focus I do manage, it all goes out the window when I have the chance to collect in another country – especially someplace as exotic as Africa. This is not a huge problem, as I can at least stay pretty much focused on just beetles. Moths and butterflies are pretty, but it just takes too much effort to keep each specimen in good shape. Bees and wasps also capture my interest, but I never know for sure whether I’ll get stung, and the extra precautions required to avoid such possibility are enough to make me pass on them. Orthopterans don’t generally excite me unless they’re big and gaudy – in which case just one or two for the collection is fine. And flies? Well, they’re flies! About the only non-coleopterans that regularly distract me are treehoppers – running into a mess of them, with their bizarre, fantastical shapes will always stop me in my tracks. Fortunately, they’re not so abundant that they are constantly grabbing my attention.

Beetles, though – that’s a different story. While I can resist the temptation to collect many of the groups outside of my sphere of interest, there are others that are consistently too tempting for me to pass up. One of these is the Tenebrionidae, or darkling beetles. With some 20,000 described species worldwide, it is among the most speciose of beetle families (larger than my beloved Buprestidae), and this diversity combines with difficult taxonomy to make them truly challenging for even the most serious students of the family. For hacks like me, they’re impossible. Moreover, they’re not even especialy pretty – usually just black. Why do I collect them? Mostly because of their (in many cases) large size, comically awkward shuffling gait, and often exaggerated surface sculpturing. Especialy diverse in more xeric habitats, I’ve collected quite a few in my frequent trips through the southwestern U.S. and even managed to get many of them identified by tenebrionid icon Charles A. Triplehorn. Southern Africa is a true center of diversity for this group, with some 3,500 species recorded from the area – nearly 20% of the global diversity! A number of particularly large species that go by the common name “tok-tokkies” make their homes in the dry Namib desert and surrounding bushveld. Along with dungers and chafers and tyrant ground beetles, tok-tokkies would prove to be one more distraction in my nevertheless successful quest for African jewel beetles.

Psammodes hirtipes

“Tok-tokkie” refers not to a particular genus or tribe of tenebrionids, but rather a number of flightless species that have developed a unique “tapping” method of communication between males and females. The name “tok-tokkie” is onomatopoeic, referring to the sound these beetles make when they tap their abdomen on the ground. In the same way that fireflies have species-specific patterns of flashes, different species of tok-tokkies tap with differing frequencies. The beetle makes the noise by raising its abdomen and then bringing it down on the surface of the ground several times in quick succession. Males initiate the tapping and await a response from a receptive female. Signals are exchanged back and forth until, eventually, the two locate each other and mate. Females lay eggs in shallow excavations in the dry, sandy soil, and the larvae that hatch feed within the soil on the roots of small plants. The dry Namib Desert has some of the most astounding species of tok-tokkies. Some – called “fog tok-tokkies” – have developed specially modified grooves to trap moisture from fog banks rolling onto the Atlantic coast. Others drink by doing a “head-stand” to allow condensed dew to trickle down to their mouths. Heat avoidance is another challenge in the Namib. Some species extrude dots of white wax from small pores on their elytra in response to increasing sunlight intensity, eventually appearing white-spotted or striped. The wax reflects the sun’s rays and helps keep the beetle cool. Other species beats the heat by running – in fact, the fastest running beetle in the world is one of the Namib tok-tokkies (and not, as I would have suspected, a tiger beetle). Unlike its mostly clumsy brethren around the rest of the world, this beetle blasts across the scorching sand at lighting speeds. A related species boasts the longest relative leg length of any beetle in the world.

Psammodes virago

I knew none of this in 1999 when I was in South Africa’s Northern (now Limpopo) Province, and while the tok-tokkies we encountered in the bushveld habitat below the Waterberg Range were not quite as marvelous as those of the nearby Namib Desert, they were still irresistible to this indefatigable beetle collector. Not knowing their names, we came up with our own names for them based on their appearance. Psammodes hirtipes was “wrinkle butt” due to the numerous prominent tubercles at the sides and rear of its otherwise smooth elytra. Psammodes virago, was “helmet beetle” because of its smoothly domed “army helmet” shape. Our designation of “armoured tank beetle” for Anomalipus elephas (photo credit) was amazingly close to its actual common name of “large armoured darkling beetle” (Picker et al. (2002), as was “white legs” for Dichtha incantatoris (photo credit), which Picker et al. (2002) call the “white-legged tok-tokkie”. In all, I collected some dozen species of tenebrionids during my stay at Geelhoutbos farm. Most of the smaller ones are still unidentified, but hopefully someday they will prove useful to some tenebrionid specialist.

The online magazine Travel Africa offers an informative article about the Namib tok-tokkies and this humerous video from National Geographic:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Namib beetles – Travel Africa Magazine“, posted with vodpod

REFERENCES:

Evenhuis, N. L. 2008. The “Mihi itch”—a brief history. Zootaxa, 1890:59-68.

Picker, M., C. Griffiths and A. Weaving. 2002. Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 444 pp.

Posted in Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae | Tagged beetles, darkling beetles, entomology, insects, nature, science, South Africa, tok-tokkie beetles | 14 Comments

What’s bugging you?

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

It’s not often that I use this forum to write about other blogs. There are so many to choose from – good ones – that it’s hard to know where to start. Besides, I’d rather use the limited time I have to write doing so about bugs. Given this, it might seem remarkable that I’m going to write about a blog that – as of now – has only three postings. The writer of this new blog, however, is no ordinary writer, and I expect his blog will prove to be no ordinary blog.

Dr. Arthur V. Evans hardly needs introduction in the world of entomology. His prowess as a collector of insects – especially Scarabaeidae – is legendary, but it is his talent for writing that has earned him his true renown. While his list of research papers is impressive enough, his books are what set him apart from the rest of us. Blending depth of knowledge with humor and a passion for his subject, Dr. Evans’ books have been equally embraced by professional entomologists and the general public alike. His field guides (Field Guide to Beetles of California, Field Guide to Insects of North America, and Introduction to California Beetles) have helped to introduce the fabulous world of insects to nature lovers across the country, and the breathtakingly beautiful An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles (coauthored with my friend and colleague, Dr. Charles L. Bellamy) has become a staple on coffee tables around the world. His latest book, What’s Bugging You?, is a charming collection of essays that have appeared over the years as a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It is also the name of his new blog, and this excerpt from its very first post suggests it will live up to the reputation of its author:

As I bent down to inspect the corpse a panicked wave of blow flies buzzed up past my face. Their tiny wings churned the air to propel their brassy green bodies out of harm’s way. But within minutes they were back. For scavengers like blow flies, life is short and the aroma of decaying flesh promising food, mates, and egg laying sites is just too much to ignore.

Dr. Evans is an artist, and words are his palette.

If you like insects, you will love What’s Bugging You? Check it out, bookmark it, and be prepared to enjoy what results when love of insects meets truly gifted writing.

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged blogging, entomologists, entomology, insects, nature, science | 5 Comments

Tragidion confusion

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Back in October, I discussed a recent review of the cerambycid genus Tragidion, authored by Ian Swift and Ann Ray and published in the online journal Zootaxa. These gorgeous beetles mimic the so-called “tarantula hawks” (a group of large, predatory wasps in the family Pompilidae) and have been difficult to identify due to poorly-defined species limits, wide range of geographic variation, unusually high sexual dimorphism, and apparent potential for hybridization in areas of geographic overlap. Swift and Ray (2008) recognized seven North American and four Mexican species, including two newly described species and another raised from synonymy. It was an excellent work that provided much needed clarity based on examination of types and included detailed descriptions and dorsal habitus photographs of all species and separate keys to males and females to facilitate their identification. Unfortunately, my summary caused some confusion regarding species that occur in the deserts of southern Arizona, southern New Mexico and western Texas. In this post, I’ll clarify that confusion and provide details for distinguishing these species.

Formerly, it was thought that two species of Tragidion inhabited this region, with populations exhibiting smooth elytra and breeding in dead stalks of Agave and Yucca (Agavaceae) representing T. armatum and those exhibiting ribbed elytra and breeding in dead branches of a variety of woody plants representing T. annulatum. This concept dates back to the landmark monograph of the Cerambycidae of North America by Linsley (1962). Swift and Ray (2008) noted that Linsley’s concept of T. annulatum was based on an erroneously labeled type specimen, and that true T. annulatum referred to populations in California and Baja California (for which other names – now suppressed – were being used). This left the AZ/NM/TX populations attributed to T. annulatum without a name. The previously suppressed name T. densiventre was found to refer to populations inhabiting lowland habitats and breeding in Prosopis and Acacia (Fabaceae), but those occurring in montane habitats and breeding in Quercus (Fagaceae) represented an as yet undescribed species, for which the name T. deceptum was given. I included Swift and Ray’s figure of T. deceptum in my post – but mistakenly included the male of T. densiventre alongside the female of T. deceptum!

This error may never had been noticed, had it not been for the discriminating eyes of BugGuide contributor, Margarethe Brummermann. Margarethe is currently collecting photographs for a field guide to Arizona beetles and had photographed a male and female of a “ribbed” species in Montosa Canyon. Using the illustration of T. “deceptum” in my post, Margarethe concluded her specimens represented T. deceptum and asked me to confirm her ID. When I told her the specimens represented T. densiventre, her confusion was understandable (given that her male appeared identical to the T. “deceptum” male in my post). Further query on her part prompted me to do a little digging, and I discovered my error. The figure in my post has since been corrected – both that figure and a figure from Swift and Ray (2008) showing the male and female of T. densiventre are included below, along with additional information to allow their identification.

Tragidion densiventre Casey, 1912

Tragidion densiventre was formerly synonymized under T. auripenne (a rare species known from the four corners region of northern Arizona, southern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico). Males of T. densiventre can be distinguished by their longer antennae, tawny-tan elytra and distinctly red-brown head, legs, and scape, while females have shorter antennae and the elytra red-orange. Both males and females of this species are distinguished from T. deceptum by their five elytral costae that curve inward toward the suture and extend to near the elytral apices, as well as their relatively narrower basal black band. Females of this species may be further distinguished from T. deceptum by their all black (or nearly so) antennae. Tragidion densiventre is found predominantly in xeric lowland desert habitats in Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas (as well as northern Mexico). Larvae have been recorded developing in dead Prosopis glandulosa and Acacia greggii, and adults have been observed aggregating on sap oozing from stems of Baccharis sarothroides (Asteraceae) and flowers of larval host plants. Although the biology of this species has not been described in detail, it is likely that the observations of Cope (1984) for T. auripenne refer to this species. This is the classic T. “annulatum” commonly observed in the desert southwest.

Tragidion deceptum Swift & Ray, 2008

Tragidion deceptum superficially resembles T. densiventre due to its ribbed elytra; however, it is actually more closely related to the Mexican species T. carinatum. Like T. densiventre, the males exhibit longer antennae and tawny-tan elytra, while females have shorter antennae and orange-red elytra. However, the head, legs and scape of males are black, as in females of the species, rather than red-brown as in males of T. densiventre. Females exhibit distinctly annulated antennae, in contrast to the all black antennae of T. densiventre. Both males and females are distinguished from T. densiventre by the elytral costae – only four rather than five, not incurved towards the suture and extending only to the apical one-third of the elytra. In addition, the basal black band is very broad – exceeding the scutellum by 2 × its length. This species is similarly distributed across the desert southwest as T. densiventre but occurs in more montane habitats, where it breeds in recently dead branches of several species of Quercus. Like T. densiventre, adults are often found feeding and aggregating on Baccharis sarothroides, and in a few lower canyons bordering desert habitats in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona this species and T. densiventre have been collected feeding alongside each other on the same Baccharis plants. Tragidion deceptum is one of several species in the genus (along with T. coquus in eastern North America) that have been collected using fermenting molasses traps (more on this in a future post).

REFERENCES:

Cope, J. 1986. Notes on the ecology of western Cerambycidae. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 38:27–36.

Linsley, E. G. 1962. The Cerambycidae of North America. Part III. Taxonomy and classification of the subfamily Cerambycinae, tribes Opsimini through Megaderini. University of California Publicatons in Entomology, 20:1-188, 56 figs.

Swift, I. and A. M. Ray. 2008. A review of the genus Tragidion Audinet-Serville, 1834 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Trachyderini). Zootaxa, 1892:1-25.

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged Arizona, beetles, entomology, insects, literature, longhorned beetles, mimicry, nature, new species, science, taxonomy | 3 Comments

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