#insect tracks

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Oil Beetle - Meloe campanicollis

When the autumn season arrives, I always try to seek out this specie of insect given it's size and uniqueness. As a reminder from earlier posts, this Beetle may be somewhat strange looking, especially if you consider the other members of its large family (Meloidae), but it is a Beetle nonetheless. At least it is easy to recognize given its bulbous abdomen, reduced wingcase and Ant-like head. Other Blister Beetles may have an Ant-like head, but they will possess functional elytra with wings and a long abdomen that protrudes from behind the wingcase (but doesn't bulge out). Keep an eye for these traits in the insect world, as the Beetles that possess them also come loaded with a burning hot defense. As such, handle with extreme care and make no attempt to agitate them. However, today's post won't cover the cantharidin defense of Oil Beetles (you can find more information by checking out this post here). Instead, we have two wandering female individuals (as confirmed by the antennae shape) to explore as they go about their dya. In Pictures 2 and 5, a hardy Beetle was crawling on some stones, and marched forward without a care for the impending chasm between the stones. Granted, insects are not stupid and can decide to turn or change direction if they detect their travel can go no further. In this case, I placed a leaf in her path to bridge the gaps and she crawled across to the other side. After crossing, she traveled the full length of the stone.... and then tumbled into the grass below after reaching the edge. I suppose there wasn't much to see/do from such a height.

For the second individual, she was likely searching for a suitable location to place eggs. Soil-filled and sandy environments are great places to look, but the chosen earth has to be a suitable depth in order to ensure that the many eggs have a degree of protection from predators and colder conditions. The sand she was traveling on definitely wasn't deep enough, and so she kept walking. She may be arching her body and placing her abdomen in the sand in Picture 7, but she's not testing for depth; this is a warning posture. After I backed off, she calmed down and resumed her walk, (and maybe you've noticed this already) she left a trail in the sand from where her abdomen touched the ground. This is a unique moment to how an insect makes tracks as it travels, both from her abdomen, and the three legs on each side making little indents (but mostly the former). As such, if you find trails like this, you may be able to follow the journey of such a beautiful insect as it moves. The trackway seems so small compared to the vehicle tracks next to her, but it's a real marvel. Unfortunately, it's also a necessity given the abdomen's size, so there's no lifting it off the ground. Of course, predators can follow this trackway, but they - assuming they followed the right direction - may not be prepared for the burning defenses that this Beetle possesses if caught!

Finally, having seen this Beetle specie a few times now, I've made small interactions with them on those occasions just to see how they react. While smaller insects tend recoil and retreat from the placement of a finger in front of or near then, the Oil Beetles I've found are always curious and begin to vigorous crawl up my finger, after which I pull away. If I find them next year, I'll try this again, but I'll be sure to have gloves on. I cannot emphasize enough that it is unwise to agitate or corner these Beetles since they can exude blister-inducing, cantharidin-saturated liquid from their joints. In addition to protecting yourself, don't allow dogs to prod or lick them while walking them.

Pictures were taken on October 17 and 21, 2024 with a Google Pixel 4. Next time this Beetle is showcased, we'll look at what happens after their eggs are placed in soil. It'll be a wild ride, unless you have to be a Bee!

[the-nothing-maker]

POV your existence disgusts those you try to cheer

[wildlifetracker]

Emerald ash borer gallery (signs) on an ash tree. This species is highly invasive and destructive in North America. 5/22/24

[citrine-elephant]

please enjoy this bee

[tearlessrain]

transphobes always make us sound so much cooler than we actually are. I wish I was some kind of society-toppling satanic eldritch abomination with an incomprehensible physical form instead of some guy who just spent his evening watching youtube videos about weird bugs and eating gardettos

[necrothezma]

*monhun egg pick up noise*

[absylphe]

Compilation Of Additional Stream Beasts

[goodmode]

24/7 NONSTOP BEATS

[coolbugpics]

[outlying-hyppocrate]

I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE UKULELE MUSIC BUT IT IS WHAT I HAVE.

[cowardlybean]

reigen plushie :3

[interruptingkau]

Cool guy I saw at work

[quotesfrommyreading]

The loss of species diversity in northeastern forests of the United States similarly allowed tickborne pathogens to spill over into humans. In the original, intact northeastern forests, a diversity of woodland animals such as chipmunks, weasels, and opossums abounded. These creatures imposed a limit on the local tick population, for a single opossum, through grooming, destroyed nearly six thousand ticks a week. But as the suburbs grew in the Northeast, the forest was fragmented into little wooded plots crisscrossed by roads and highways. Specialist species like opossums, chipmunks, and weasels vanished. Meanwhile, generalist species like deer and white-footed mice took over. But deer and white-footed mice, unlike opossums and chipmunks, don't control local tick populations. When the opossums and the chipmunks disappeared, tick populations exploded.

As a result, tickborne microbes increasingly spill over into humans. The tickborne bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi first emerged in humans in an outbreak in Old Lyme, Connecticut, in the late 1970s. If left untreated, the disease it caused – Lyme disease – can lead to paralysis and arthritis among other woes. Between 1975 and 1995, cases increased twenty-five-fold. Today, three hundred thousand Americans are diagnosed with Lyme every year, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. Other tickborne microbes are spilling over as well. Between 2001 and 2008, cases of tickborne Babesia microti, which causes a malaria-like illness, increased twentyfold.

Neither West Nile virus nor Borrelia burgdorferi and its kin can spread directly from one person to another, yet. But they continue to change and adapt. And elsewhere, the reordering of wildlife species that precipitated their spillover into humans proceeds. Globally, 12 percent of bird species, 23 percent of mammals, and 32 percent of amphibians are at risk of extinction. Since 1970, global populations of these creatures have declined by nearly 30 percent. Just how these losses will shift the distribution of microbes between and across species, pushing some over the threshold, remains to be seen.

  —  Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond (Sonia Shah)

[nordlichtkunst]

And third one!

Animal Tracks is the youngest of the three I have so far. Like, couple months, probably. He's friendly but sometimes a bit overexcited and he will occasionally knock people over accidentally because he wants to give them, like, a quick hip-check as a greeting while passing them and using too much strength, and then you got a lot of insect made for battling monsters ramming into you. He means well tho.

[wildlifetracker]

Aspen Serpentine Leafminer Moth, Phyllocnistis populiella

[arb0k]

visitor today :O tried to get closer to get a clearer picture and scared it off, whoops

some kind of hawk but not our usual harris, its head was light grey. we have a lot more bird diversity in winter (pretty much anything that winters in mexico has a chance of showing up at some point or another) so hard to say? tentative guess is cooper's hawk