May 28th, 2007
beetling off
This was meant to be a more substantial post, but I have to beetle off in a few minutes. We’ve had a busy weekend, and this morning I’m off to meet up with a Grade 10 science class from one of the schools in the city. A friend, Eric Snyder, and I have been doing an annual field work outing with a class from this school for several years. On past occasions, we’ve spent the day doing stream surveys, but we’re going to try something a little different this year. Somewhat inspired by the Blogger Bioblitz, I suggested that we do an informal blitz at a rustic conservation area just outside the city. Hopefully the day will go well. I’ll take some photos and write a post about it tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime, you get the above round-necked longhorn beetle. As near as I can tell, it’s a Cyrtophorus verrucosus which, according to Stephen Marshall’s Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, can be either light or dark in colour. This is the dark form. Apparently, these are marked and shaped so that they resemble ants. Indeed, when I first noticed this beetle crawling over the very odiferous blooms of a bush in one of the fields, I did almost mistake it for an ant due to the shape of the “thick neck” and its antlike movement. I have yet to ID the bush, but it was really quite dreadful smelling – a very cloying scent which might best be described as “rotten” — especially as the flowers became increasingly sticky with nectar over a period of days. However, obviously the odor appealed to many insects as it was just crawling with a number of different species of flies, solitary bees, wasps, and beetles, such as chafer type beetles and the above longhorn beetle. I must try to ID the bush — which is just one of many unknown bushes around the farm (obviously, I need to sharpen my skills at IDing bushes). Btw, on the subject of longhorn beetles [Family Cerambycidae], do drop by and visit Niches to see the beetle that Wayne has photographed and written about this morning.
Well, I must run. I have about 10 kilos of field guides in my knapsack, along with water and some lunch. That is a much heavier load of “stuff” than I would normally ever drag along on a hike. I like to travel very light, so this will take some getting used to!
Tags: round-necked longhorn beetles, Cerambycidae, Cyrtophorus verrucosus