Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
What were yesterday’s psychedelic speckles? They were elytral ornaments of the magical mystery Elaphrus, a ground beetle that spends its time lurking about the edges of waterways looking suspiciously like a miniature tiger beetle even though it isn’t. So: Eight points to Ben Coulter who guessed the genus almost before I posted the challenge. Two [...]
You don’t need a tropical vacation to find spectacularly-colored animals. One of the more common spring insects in eastern North America is the lovely six-spotted tiger beetle Cicindela sexguttata. Tiger Beetles are conspicuous insects with a devoted following among amateur and professional entomologists alike. Because they are often identifiable through photographs, tiger beetles are a [...]
It’s Friday, I have new photos, so let’s resurrect the Friday Beetle! Agra is a tree-dwelling predator found from Texas south to Argentina. It belongs to the family Carabidae, the ground beetles, which is unfortunate as most Agra are canopy species found nowhere near the ground. Agra is one of those sprawling hyper-diverse tropical genera [...]
Calosoma scrutator, the fiery searcher Savoy, Illinois It’s a good thing Myrmecos isn’t a scratch-and-sniff blog. This beetle is a real stinker. Calosoma scrutator, the fiery searcher, measures about 3cm long and is among our largest native ground beetles. The spectacular metallic coloration serves to warn predators- and, apparently, photographers- of the noxious chemicals it [...]
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 [...]
Opisthius richardsoni is a broad, flat ground beetle common along river banks in the colder regions of western North America. photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f13, flash diffused through tracing paper
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/13, flash diffused through tracing paper
My apologies for the lack of blogging the past few days. I’ve been taking some time away from posting for the holidays, but I’ll be back next week. In the meantime, here’s a Pasimachus ground beetle… photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, f/18, 1/250 sec, indirect strobe [...]
Scaphinotus petersi – Snail-Eating Ground Beetle Arizona Ground beetles- the family Carabidae- are a spectacular evolutionary radiation of terrestrial predators. The elegant, flightless beetles of the genus Scaphinotus prefer snails and slugs. photo details. TOP PHOTO. Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon 20D f/18, 1/250 sec, ISO 100 inside a white box studio, [...]
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Myrmecos- derived from the ancient greek word for "ant"- hosts Alex's musings about these and other little creatures that share our planet.
Questions? Email alwild [at] myrmecos.net; or follow @Myrmecos on Twitter.
