Friday Beetle Blogging: Scarites Ground Beetle

Scarites sp. Ground Beetle (Carabidae)
Urbana, Illinois

As the summer bug season freezes to a close here in Illinois, our attention turns increasingly to the cryptic habitats where insects settle in to overwinter.  The flowers have faded, but insects can still be found under tree bark, in rotting wood, and in leaf litter.  This ground beetle had burrowed under a stone, aided by its shovel-like fossorial forelegs.

Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper