Tag: beetle
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128/150: The amazingly acrobatic eyed click beetle!
Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Elateridae: Agrypninae: Alaus: Alaus oculatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Alaus oculatus belongs to the family Elateridae, a group commonly known as click beetles. These insects get their name from the unique clicking mechanism they all share. When one of these beetles finds itself upside down, it will arch so only the tip of…
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111/150: See no Weevil, Hear no Weevil, Speak no Weevil
Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Otiorhynchus: Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Fabricius, 1775) Not all weevils are evil, but unfortunately this species of weevil is quite a pest. The black vine weevil has been found to be a pest of over 100 different wild and cultivated plants. Unfortunately, this species is not the lesser of two evils since…
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18/150: A fungus beetle known for using its head
Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Bolitotherus: Bolitotherus cornutus (Panzer, 1794) Male Bolitotherus cornutus, commonly known as the Forked Fungus beetle, have fork-like horns in which they use to compete for mates. Those with bigger horns have better success at prying rivals off of their prized females.
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11/150: Damned by the dam-The Cobblestone Tiger Beetle
animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae: Cicindela: Cicindela marginipennis (DeJean, 1831) Cobblestone tiger beetles (Cicindela marginipennis) live in small, divided communities in North America, and are endangered in Canada, with an estimated 5,000 individuals remaining. These beetles live in only two areas along the Saint John River in New Brunswick, as they need specialized river…
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1/150: These Fireflies are Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Photuris quadrifulgens (Barber, 1951) Photuris quadrifulgens is a species in the beetle family Lampyridae, commonly known as the fireflies. This species belongs to the femme fatale lightning bugs that produce light flashes from lantern organs on their abdomen.
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Visiting Victoria
At the end of October, Gerry Blagoev and I flew across the country to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) in Victoria, British Columbia. We were on a quest for specimens! Identified specimens, that is. Most of the time our collections team is busy finding specimens out in the field and preparing them for…
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Busy Barcoding Bees Building Blitzes
Hello again faithful readers, It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, and a lot has happened! I’m sure you know all about the 6th Barcode of Life Conference that happened a few weeks ago from the other blogs, but I’ll give you a bit of a refresher. It was busy, crowded with fervent biologists,…
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BIObus Sampling At Long Point
Long Point Provincial Park was the next destination for the BIObus’ aquatic sampling tour across Ontario Provincial Parks. Long Point is a sand spit on north shore of Lake Erie, this is a unique region of southern Ontario, being comprised of primarily sandy soils and deciduous trees. The point juts out into Lake Erie, creating a…
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rare Arthropods
Hello everyone, this past week at BIO, among many other things going on, we finished our standardized sampling at rare Charitable Research Reserve. This was our second sampling event since we had previously sampled the same sites at rare in the late spring.
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Bark Beetles and Wildfires
Hello again! After taking down all our traps in Burnt Cabin Bog Ecological Reserve, we packed up and drove for two days up to Kluane National Park and Reserve. While the drive was long there was plenty of scenery to see along the way. While driving North on the Stewart-Cassiar highway, we passed through a…