Tag Archives: Great Basin

Big, black (and red), and beautiful!

Posted on July 18, 2014 by

While I may have already declared Plinthocoelium suaveolens (bumelia borer) as North America’s most beautiful longhorned beetle, any short list of top candidates for this title must also include the species Crossidius coralinus. Like most other members of this strictly North American genus, these gorgeous beetles … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Black is beautiful!

Posted on July 3, 2014 by

Most species in the genus Crossidius exhibit varying amounts of yellow/red/orange coloration on the body. However, one species—Crossidius ater—dispenses with such adornments and remains all-black throughout its expansive range across the Great Basin and surrounding areas. Despite this, they are … Continue reading →

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A Crossidius hirtipes subspecies blend zone…

Posted on April 12, 2014 by

…or, “There’s something fishy going on here!” After a day in the vicinity of Yearington, Nevada  looking for (and eventually finding) a population of Crossidius hirtipes longhorned beetles assignable to subspecies “rubrescens“, field mate Jeff Huether and I dropped a little further south to … Continue reading →

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Crossidius hirtipes rhodopus in Adobe Valley, California

Posted on March 16, 2014 by

On Day 7 of last August’s Great Basin Collecting Trip, we left Bishop and headed back north to the Mono Basin to look for Crossidius hirtipes rhodopus, a distinctive reddish subspecies known only from the Mono Basin. I’d seen this beetle before—almost 20 … Continue reading →

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The sublimely beautiful Crossidius coralinus caeruleipennis

Posted on March 2, 2014 by

Before driving up into the White Mountains to look for Crossidius hirtipes nubilus and see the grotesquely beautiful trees at Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, we made a short two-mile drive north of our hotel in Bishop, California to try our hand … Continue reading →

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Clouded beetles amidst spectacular scenery

Posted on February 22, 2014 by

“Westerly from Westgard Pass is a view equaled in few parts of America. In the middle distance, a dozen miles away and nearly a mile below, lies the fertile Owens Valley, extending at right angles north and south over a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The wondrously and eerily beautiful Mono Lake

Posted on December 7, 2013 by

During my recent Great Basin collecting trip, we stopped briefly at one of my favorite places in the world—Mono Lake in eastern California. My last visit was almost 20 years ago, so it was a thrill for me to see … Continue reading →

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Pedantic Sunday: Blister beetles don’t suck

Posted on December 1, 2013 by

The beetle featured in today’s photo is the blister beetle (family Meloidae), Nemognatha cribraria cribraria. The genus Nemognatha and its relatives in the subfamily Nemognathinae are distinctive due to the greatly elongated adult mouthparts that are modified for feeding on flowers. Specifically, parts … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Meloidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments