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galacticbugman · 5 years ago

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Beetling in Texas Part 1.

Being a bug guy is quite fun in my opinion; you get to see a lot of neat and wonderful creatures in a lot of places. I may be known as a mothing guy or a dragonfly hunter but there is something else I am quite fond of and that is beetling. Beetles are my third favorite class of insect. There are many different classes of insects about 26 different classes of insects. These do not include millipedes or arachnids which also interest me. Non in the bug world are as diverse as the beetles. There are about 350,000 but there maybe several hundred more that we have yet to find. The beetles come in all different shapes and colors and on many of my adventures I have been able to track down quite a few cool ones that I would like to go in depth with. Some may be from recent posts so forgive the repetitive nature of my photos in this blog. So just to let you know I have a lot of beetle photos so I am going to be posting a lot of them and talking about each one just a little bit to give you insights of all the ones I have and how to distinguish each species and where to find them. Ladies and Gentlemen and others may I present the Beatles!” Okay maybe not the Fab Four. Let try that again Ladies and Gentlemen and others I present to you the Beetles! *APPLAUSE* (Sorry couldn’t do this with out making a reference to the Beatles British Band)

Lets start with this group; this one is a Golden Tortoise Beetle. This is in the family of Tortoise beetle. In Tarrant County I have only documented two on iNaturalist. These are very interesting beetles to try and find. Often found on plants near a water source these guys feed on plants of the potato family and other plants such a Bindweed and others in the Convolvulaceae family. These are one of the prettiest beetles I have ever seen in my life. This is a cool one to warm up on. Like all in its species they are known for having a different kind of carapace than most beetles. The wing coverts are actually clear around the edge. When threatened they will suck down close to the leaf surface. They can also change color when under threat; observe...

Pretty cool huh? These were both found in my home town. The first one I got at Lake Arlington one day when I was with my mother on a nature outing and the one below it was found when I was just getting out of the car right in my drive way; he had crawled on my pant’s leg some time and I didn’t see it until I got out so he was a stowaway or a hitchhiker however you like to put it. These are really cool beetles and they look as if they are made of gold. Their coloration is so amazing of course the one here is much redder but when cooled off after being scared or threatened they turn back into their shiny coloration. There is another one that is also pretty cool and just as pretty. Please put your hands together for beetle number two...

Meet the Mottled Tortoise Beetle. This guy also has that golden color but it is not as prominent for it is mostly black. You can see the clear outer edge of the carapace. These guys are just so neat and very cool to look at. I can’t get enough of the beauties. This one like the Golden Tortoise beetle are in the leaf beetle family. I have several leaf beetles in my photo collection that I have taken in Texas. Beetles are a common occurrence when I am on my nature walks. This guy is also found near water but can be found in meadows, parks, fields, gardens, and on the roadside. This guy was found during a field investigation at Parr Park in Grapevine which is one of my absolute favorite places to go to when I get the chances to go. There are a ton more beetles to look at so let move on to beetle number three!

Staying with the leaf beetles meet Zygogramma distrupta. This one is one I have not found a regular common name for. I have another one you will meet in a minute that has an even longer name but is in the same Genus. This guy is one of the many that I say looks like it has tribal print on its wing coverts. These Zygogrammas are just so beautiful to observe. I see this species a lot out at S.J. Stovall Park in Arlington Texas which is one of my usual places to take a nice hike and to walk near the prairie. These guys can gather in great numbers to feed. I have seen this species the last couple of years now. At first I didn’t think that they were all that common. This species is a little rarer for this area and I was the first person on iNaturalist to document it for the DFW area so it is a pretty rare occurrence here but I find this species a lot when I am out at Stovall Park. I have another one that is equally fascinating and that is just as rare. It too was first observed in the DFW area by me on iNaturalist.

Here is Zygogramma heterothecae this was the very first leaf beetle I ever found that I was able to record in a photo documentation. This is a really cool one an my favorite out of the Zygogrammas. Many people have only a couple of favorite things but me I have many levels of favorites. I pretty much have a favorite in every category of anything I am interested in. I don’t just have one favorite I have a favorite thing for every occasion. This one was found at TCC South Campus one semester out by the library. This thing was right at home on one of the pillars. This guy has more circles on its shell than the other one and has a more dark tone to its coloration than the other one. Little is known about both species but that is the way it goes in the insect world; it is highly under studied and little is known about some of the lesser appreciated species which is a real shame in my opinion. I think even the most unlikeliest of species need to have more studies done on them to see exactly where they stand on the conservation ladder. The leaf beetles are so cool but there is another one that I found when I was out with some of the ladies at River Legacy.

Another kind of leaf beetle and a little bit bigger than our last four in this spotlight reel of my photos is this is the Milkweed Leaf Beetle. This guy is known for mating around Milkweed when they are adults. These guys are not too big but still a pretty good size. These are really pretty too and are a bright orange color in the good light. Like I saw photos do take away a few things you can get out in the field. They are nice to have and can last you a long time but my goodness do they not tell the full story. I know a picture is worth a thousand more but the whole experience is a million words more. Beetles are some of the world’s most beautiful insects and I know that a lot of people don’t agree with me but they are. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder so who am I to judge. It is all in how we see the world. Each one of us sees it a little differently than the rest. Let us look at another one shall we. Again this in the leaf beetle group and is a little more infamously known as an agricultural pest insect.

Here one that I found in the prairie restoration area at TCC South Campus this one is called the Colorado Potato Beetle. This one is known for causing a lot of damage to agriculture crops such as potatoes but that is just one viewpoint. In the natural order of things they are not an ecological pest. There is a big dividing line when it comes to calling things pest or not. It just depends on who you talk to. Naturalists will say one thing and gardeners and farmers can say another. This is one beetle that I though was going to be huge and it is a little big but not too big. It is about the size of the previous one the Milkweed Leaf Beetle. These guys actually originated here in the Lone Star State. It is so named after the Colorado River. This guy has since spread to many other places in the US and has even spread to Europe due to human transference. These guys can cause a lot of damage to crops. In a few countries they have actually been put on stamps. They are one of the most interesting beetles in my book. I like them but some people just do not appreciate them.

So now let us move on out of the leaf beetles and let us focus on another group which is very near and dear to my heart. May I introduce the Tiger Beetles!

A common sight in undisturbed areas of forests and more so on sunny patches where there is sand showing you will see them scurrying about in a flash of color. This one is one of the most common ones in Texas. This one is the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. I have seen this one at nearly all the parks I have visited that have a sand path to them. These guys are so named for their six cream colored spots at the base of their wing coverts. These guys are fast period. They are fast fliers and fast runners. When they are larva they are fast when trying to catch a meal. They have good eyesight when in their larva stage and their adult stage which is pretty unusual for an insect. These guys are named Tiger Beetle for they have the ferociousness of a tiger. They are not picky at what they eat. This goes for all of the tiger beetles. These guys are one of the wolves of the insect world actively chasing down prey. Of course they have one tiny problem when they run. They have to stop periodically because they run so fast that their brain can’t catch up to their speed and they sort of go blank and have to re position themselves from time to time. Lets look at some more of these little beautiful terrors of the forest.

Here is a really pretty one called the Chartreuse Tiger. I found this one at Thora Hart Park in Arlington TX. I live not to far from there now and when we were moving I was able to the new place I was able to go there for a little bit and explore and that is when I happened up on this guy. I mistook the guy for another one called a Festive Tiger but hey the thing even the best of naturalists can get things mixed up sometimes. That is why we have iNaturalist to double check ourselves and have friends to back us up. It is just one of those thing that happens from to time to time. Just comes to show you can’t be right all the time. I am always drawing blanks and messing up but hey at least I have friends who have my back and will tell me when I am wrong so I can correct my statements.

Some of these guys are even attracted to lights at night. This guy came up to our mothing set up one night at Parr Park last year during National Moth Week. This one is one I have seen once before and that was at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. This one is called the Carolina Tiger Beetle. This one is a nice deep purple color and has a little bit of green in the good light but also has two big cream colored spots on its butt. There I said it! These guys really light up when you shine lights on them. They are very shiny beetles and you can’t miss them. Of course they can be a pain to photograph. Trust me I have lost my share of them on the trail. They are slippery little suckers but they are pretty photogenic when you get them in the right spot. There are some organisms on this planet that are just not very photogenic.

Here is the second most common tiger for me. This guy is known as the Bronzed Tiger Beetle. These guys are often spotted out at Village Creek Historical Area. One day I was out there and they were just all over the walk way by the river. These guys are so pretty to look at and I am not saying that for this species but every species as a whole. There are just so many different kinds and each one has its own unique pattern and design. Lets look at another type of beetle and leave the Tigers for now.

The Texas Ironclad Beetle was one I had been looking for ever since I got out of high school. I was on the Future Farmers of America State Entomology ID Team and this was one of the bugs on our list we had to study. I finally found one during my first City Nature Challenge at a place called Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center which is in Cedar Hill Texas I mentioned it in my last post when I was talking about the patches on my vest. These guys are tough as nails. I have friends who kept insect collections and some of the collectors had these and they said that putting the pins in to their shell was a hard task for it is such strong armor it can easily bend the pin. These guys are the tanks of the Texas beetle group. These are so beautiful and one of my favorites. They are one heck of a beetle I will give it that. The poor guys looked like it was having it a bit rough for it was missing a couple of segments of its legs. Still the one thing about insects is that they can get around pretty good even if they have a couple of legs missing. This was one of my favorite beetle finds ever. I had only seen dead ones until I this little find. These guys are found mainly in Cedar Hill Texas when I go and find them. These guys are all over the place as Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center, Cedar Ridge Preserve and all around there. I have not seen these in Arlington Texas but they could be there. I have only seen these in Dallas County. Their range goes a bit north of Fort Worth but their strong hold is down south in Austin and around Hill Country. According to iNaturalist a few have been spotted in Mexico too. A pretty cool beetle to look for that is more prominent in Texas.

I bet we are all too familiar with these guys they come out in the summer and glow at night. This is the Common Eastern Firefly. Also known as the Big-dipper Firefly these guys are actually beetles and not flies. I like them because they automatically think of one of my favorite TV Shows which is called Firefly with Nathan Fillion who played Captain Mal Reynolds as the commander of the Serenity which was a Firefly class. Fireflies are really cool beetles and some insects for me anyway bring up some science fiction memories. Fireflies are predators and sometimes even when mating it can turn into a nightmare for males. Females will sometimes send false signals to males to the male they are getting a come and get your love message but romance doesn’t happen when he get there she in turn eats him for a late night snack. It is true but this happens all too often in the insect world. Fireflies are often found in the forest and where there is grassy areas. They are so pretty to watch on those southern nights. Okay I have made two Guardians of the Galaxy references if any of you have noticed. I sometime go a little overboard and make a lot of nerd and geek pop culture references when I am talking about such things but I can’t help myself. These are very cool to watch out in the wild. Sometimes kids will put them in jars and watch them light up close then let them go. My parents fondly talk about these guys with memories from their childhoods. It is one of those culturally important species in my book. It may not be the Monarch or the Horned Lizard but it is still a great species that brings up a lot of fond memories for some people. I photographed this one at River Legacy at the Science Center where I like to spend a lot of my time looking for insects and chatting with some of the crew who I volunteer with from time to time.

Lets now shift gears and talk about the Longhorn Beetles; which are very neat ones to bring up in any beetle conversation. This one here is a Zebra Longhorn. These guys when larva are all borers. They are laid in trees and carve little tunnels as they grow. They are very good for the environment though which it depends on which ones you talk about here. Here in Texas we get one (I don’t have a photo of) called the Asian Longhorn which is a pretty destructive and highly invasive one. When in the adult form they feed on plants. This one here is feasting on some Common Hedge Parsley which is not the best flower to be pollinating. This stuff will get in your socks when it goes to seed and it is a mess. This is an invasive plant. A lot of insects can’t resist this so it is a constant battle to keep this contained and out of our wild lands. The beetle is a cool one; I found this one on one of my outings at the Southwest Nature Preserve.

Here is one I have only seen once out an about my adventures. This one is called Stenelytrana emarginata. It is only known by this name so forgive me being just a little bit technical with some of these names. These guys are in the family of Flower Longhorn Beetles and can be brought in by bait. This guy was found on my first visit at the Southwest Nature Preserve. That was the same day I signed up to be a volunteer right on the spot just a few months before I became a Texas Master Naturalist. Ah good memories I have with this place. I still go out there from time to time but I mainly go out there to the pond since it is really muddy right now. I go out there a lot of the Dragonflies and the Damselflies. Still I love to go out here and just look for a little bit of everything. They get some big beetles out there. A lot of them are Longhorns. Let us look at another big Longhorn Beetle.

I found this guy when I was doing a moth night during the National Moth Week event at Parr Park in Grapevine last year. This one is called Eburia haldemani. This guy is one of the largest I have seen. These guys like most if not all Longhorn beetles have a secret that I will tell you now. I first experienced the sound they make when I caught this guy to show to a fellow naturalist. These guys when threatened will make a little squeaking noise. They have pegs or something in their bodies that they rub to make a soft squeaking sound. It is kind of cool to hear but you don’t want to stress them out. It is something I didn’t expect. These guys can be attracted to lights at night like this guy who wound up at our light trap station. These guys are super cool to look for when out an about on your adventures. Here is one that I that is straight from my iNaturalist collection. Normally the photos I post will be from my Facebook or a direct upload but this next one will be a special case because it is just so cool.

You see that pair of very large antenna? follow them and you will see a beetle attached to them. This one is called the Bumelia Borer and it was found on the same day as the one the photo before the last entry. I know I got a lot of beetle pics. Beetles are the second most common thing on my list of insects. I have a lot of Dragonflies and Damseflies but I do believe I have those beat with some of these guys. Longhorn Beetles get their names for their insanely large antenna but I don’t think even they can pick up FM Radio *cricket chirps* *cough* okay so I know corny joke but what are they used for? Antenna are used to feel around and to sense danger coming their way. Antenna can pick up a lot of vibrations and things and will alert the insect of danger. These guys are not predatory but plant eaters and pollinators so they have to be on the look out for things that will potentially eat them. They may be very large beetles but as Qui-Gon Jinn said in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and I quote “There’s always a bigger fish.” This is very true in the bug world. In the insect world you never know when your number will be up. You may not even last a minute. The bug world is a dangerous realm that if you were an insect you would have to tread lightly and watch your back because danger lurks behind every leaf, every blade of grass, every nook and every cranny. It is a dangerous world where everything is hungry more or so than any other kingdom on this planet. Let us switch gears and let us look at another kind of beetle with some nasty ways of defending themselves.

Here is one that is one the DO NOT TOUCH LIST! This guy is the Black Blister Beetle. This next group is a group that uses biological and chemical warfare to put off predators from eating them. These guys use formic acid which they will spray out of their bodies and it can cause itching and burning and it will last for a good while. I would not recommend picking these guys up at all if you know what is good for you. My aunt had it out with one of these when she was a teenager and from what she told me it was not pretty. These are flower beetles but sometimes nature gives the worst of weapons to the otherwise harmless plant eaters. Sometimes plant eating insects also get the weirdest plates of armor but beetles don’t really change to drastically other insects have much weirder ways of defending themselves but that is a topic for another time.

Oil beetle are also in the family of Blister Beetles. These are also shoot out a chemical Cantharidin if squeezed or under threat. These guys are also flightless unlike most other beetles. The way I see it there is always some kind of animal that breaks the mold. There is always one that is a cut above the rest. These too are also plant eaters. They are one of the most interesting beetles. I found this one on the path at Elmer W. Oliver Nature Park another place where I volunteer at in Mansfield. A few more to go then I am wrapping this account up.

Here is one that I got at a place called Village Creek Historical Area. I have found this beetle quite a few times and if you think it is a Stag Beetle then you would be wrong my friends. This one is called the Horned Passulus or the Bess Beetle. Imagine you are walking in the woods and you see a really rotten log with saw dust all around it. There is no sign of chainsaw or any saw marks but the log is just all tattered and hollowed out. Well this beetle may be the reason for all of that saw dust. These guys are so neat and if you find them you might see some red dots on them. There are some on this beetle here around the face and the horn. Those are mites! These guys are often found with a good mite load on them. We don’t think the mites do a lot of damage to the beetles but there maybe some kind of parasitic relationship but we are not too sure. These guys are a pretty common occurrence in deep wooded areas. These guys are always found on logs, paths, and of course in the wood. They are pretty large beetles and you can’t miss them. They are so cool and have deep grooves on their carapace.

Here is a very rare one that I don’t know too much about. In fact I was the very first person to log this one on iNaturalist ever. It is kind of weird to find such a rare one. These are pretty tiny beetles compared to some. This one is known by its scientific name Philophuga viridicollis. This guy was alone when I found him climbing up a a few bits of Vetch at Stovall Park. If I want to see good beetles I just go to Stovall Park. They have some amazing beetles out there and some are very rare to the Texas area. I take pictures of every single insect I come across and I have found rare ones for nearly every park I visit. I have found some rare ones out of my home area and that is not just beetles but other organisms. This one is one of the prettiest. It is a very shiny green and blue beetle. It was the pinnacle find of that day. No on iNaturalist has seen one of these yet. It is a known species but there are one guys that are just very rare. Insects are a little under represented too and under appreciated so I understand why iNaturalist and other sites have very limited data on such things. Still a really neat find. I have not seen one of those since this one.

Here is a funny looking guy. Looks like he has a Giraffe Neck doesn’t he? This one was found on one of my Parr Park outings and we caught it using a petri dish. This outrageous looking bug is called Colliuris pensylvanica. This guy is one of the ground beetles. Some ground beetles are really hard to ID and those are normally the black ones or the sun beetles. These guys are just a little bit different than those. This one is a long-necked Ground beetle. When they are larvae they will feed on Beech and Elm woods. These guys are also attracted to baits and lights at night. Some of the information I have used in this post are from the Insect Identification webiste and BugGuide.net.

This will be final entry in this beetle post until next time when I talk about beetles because there are so many kinds of beetles out there and so many I have taken photos of. This one is one the Egyptians were all too familiar with during the time of the Pharaohs. This is the Gazelle Scarab or the Dung Beetle. In the ancient belief the Scarab was a god that would roll the sun across the sky and bury it at night and then uncover it again and start the process all over again. Many animals were important and were worshiped by the ancient Egyptians. These guys don’t roll the sun across the sun across the sky but they have the job of cleaning up animal droppings. They will roll the balls of dung and then take it to a special nesting site. The female and male will them mate on it and then the female will lay her eggs on it and that is what they will feed on when they hatch. It may be gross but that is their way. Still I think that dung beetles are the most fun you can have with beetles. They are good for a laugh and it gets the kiddies all stirred up. These guys are important though. Without dung beetles or scarabs there will be a ton of feces that will get all over the place. So be thankful we have insects. Insects may seem like a gross bunch but they are the very back bone to this planet. They are a clean up crew as well as a pollinator force. They help make our food too. So next time you are out thank an insect. Until next time I am Zachary Chapman AKA Galactic_Bug_Man and I will see you on the trail.

#beetles #coleoptera #entomology #photography #nature #wildlife #texas #insects #hike #exploring nature #explore #bugs #animals #earth science #study #diversity

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