Tag: Coleoptera

Sorting Some Sweep Net Samples

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today I finished sorting a couple sweep samples I took in my neighborhood park. After each sweep session I empty the contents into a gallon zip-lock bag. This time I only had two bags worth of material but it still took me two days to sort through.

Here was bag one

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And here is bag two

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I sorted the specimens into separate petri dishes. One was for the large specimens for regular pinning and one for all the specimens that need to be pointed. I also pinned the flies using minuten pins.

Here are all the large specimens. I nice male Melanoplus bivittatus, a few weevils and some beautiful Cassida rubiginosa are some of my favorites from the large insects.

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There were a decent variety of fly species in the samples. A couple highlights of this batch includes Tephritidae, Syrphidae and Asilidae (the small robber flies at the bottom).

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There were some awesome specimens that I found that were placed in the pointing pile. A decent amount of Cicadellidae (and decent variety), which I was hoping for, plus some awesome tiny parasitic wasp families that I haven’t ID’ed yet.

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First Collection of the Pitfall Traps

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, Uncategorized, Working on the Collection3 Comments

I went out and was able to collect the first samples from the pitfall traps I put out. Because of work travel they were left out for 2 weeks, which I think I will continue the rest of the season.

There was a cold and wet spell during one of the weeks that lasted almost the entire week so I was worried about the state of the traps but luckily I worried for nothing. Despite this the traps still had good production.

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I was pleased to find a few tiger beetles in a couple traps which I was hoping for. At first glance I feel I had a decent amount of beetle variety.

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Some more beetles and some grasshoppers graced me in these couple traps. I was surprised by the number of grasshoppers captured in the traps.

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This is the accumulation of all 12 traps, as you can see a large amount of ants (mostly from 2 traps) are present along with a good amount of grasshoppers and beetles. I can’t wait to sort through everything. Right now they are in storage as I’ll go through them this winter along with all the other pitfall samples I collect.

Miami Trip #1 (May)

On By Erik OstrumIn Collecting Outings, Uncategorized, Working on the CollectionLeave a comment

I just got back from a week long trip to Miami. Unfortunately it was for work and not a collecting trip……that didn’t stop me from collecting when I could though.

One of my favorite finds (as I only see them when I travel to the southeast) was the eastern lubber grasshopper (Romalea microptera). There was a large group of nymphs and adults at one of the collecting site for work so I grabbed a few.

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Another awesome find were large number of click beetles that do something that most people probably would never think click beetles do….glow. I believe all the ones I saw and collected are Ignelater havaniensis which are only found in southern Florida (in the US at least).

Check out that glow!

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I didn’t get a whole bunch of pictures of the live insects (work and all) but I did manage to collect a decent number of specimens considering how little time I had.

I was able to get a decent number of butterflies (thanks in part for the pocket net now bring on trips)….my favorite that I collected this trip is Heliconius charithonia (zebra longwing)..these are the first specimens I’ve been able to collect and I’m super happy to finally have netted a few. The Anartia jatrophae (white peacock) you see is a bit beat up but I didn’t have that species in the collection yet either so I decided to keep it.

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Here is everything else I collected

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In the picture below you can see a white colored weevil which I have never seen before, I can’t to figure out the species on all of these!

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In this next picture you have see the lubbers as well as the click beetles as they were all collected at the same site.

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This last picture is all the small insects that I have left which all require points. I started already and actually just finished everything before I wrote this post. Most of it is ants and small wasps.

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I’m quite thrilled with the insects I managed to collect on this trip and since I’m going to Miami quite a few times this year I should be able to get some more awesome additions to the collection.

Necrophila americana (Linnaeus)

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, SilphidaeLeave a comment

A great but severely underrated place to look for insects is on dead animals. I’ve found many cool species and attracts many you may only find of carrion. If you are looking for member of the family Silphidae then carrion is a great spot to start you search. One species I’ve commonly found is Necrophila americana. 

This beetle is pretty distinctive and easy to spot. It’s large size mixed with the yellow pronotum makes it hard to miss. This species prefers moist woods and is more commonly found on larger carrion. I’ve found it multiple times on deer as well as fish. The adults actually mostly eat the maggots that are feeding on the carrion.

This species is found throughout the eastern U.S up though eastern Canada. So far I’ve been able to collect a decent number of specimens from mostly Wisconsin and Arkansas.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/6744

https://mlbs.virginia.edu/organism/necrophila_americana

Prionus californicus Motschulsky

On By Erik OstrumIn Cerambycidae, ColeopteraLeave a comment

This is a large robust beetle found in the western U.S. This is actually one of the largest beetles in the collection currently and though it has no bright colors, it is still a beautiful and impressive beetle.

I would call this a long lived species, having a life span of 3-5 years…though granted most of that is spent as a larvae underground. Larvae feed on a wide variety of plant roots and at times can cause infestations.

One of my favorite aspects of this species are the saw-toothed antennae which, in my opinion, really what makes this species so cool.

I currently have a single specimen collected from Colorado in the collection. It is actually one of only a couple specimens of Prioninae currently in the collection so I’m really hoping to collect more.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/18882

http://jenny.tfrec.wsu.edu/opm/displayspecies.php?pn=643

Lucanus placidus Say

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

Another of the stag beetle species found in the U.S. It’s around the same size as Lucanus capreolus but lacks the bicolored femurs and has multiple teeth on the mandibles instead of one like in L. capreolus.

This species can be found in the midwestern states from southern Canada down to Texas. I collected the single specimen I have in northwestern Wisconsin in the same general area where I also collected L. capreolus.

Like other stag beetles adults can be found at lights at night and larvae can be found in decaying logs and stumps.

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Lucanus capreolus (Linnaeus)

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the handful of stag beetle species in the U.S. Though not as impressive as Lucanus elaphus it is still a large sized species. The mandibles on the males don’t get very large but are still noticeable

This species can be found throughout the eastern U.S. and north to southern Canada. This was actually the first stag beetle species I collected in Wisconsin when I still lived there. The best way to tell this species apart from the others is the bicolored femora.

It can be found in deciduous forests as well as parks. Larvae can be found in rotting logs and adults can be found on sugar baits, sap, and can be found at lights.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3107

Lucanus elaphus Fabricius

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the most impressive beetle species found in the U.S. would have to be Lucanus elaphus…..aka the giant stag beetle. Though North America isn’t particularly rich in stag beetle species, this is one that rarely fails to impress. This is actually a species I have never seen alive in person, my friend and roommate back in my college days collected the specimen while he was in North Carolina.

Males of this species are unmistakable while females can be confused with the couple other species present in the same range. Larvae feed and can be found in moist decaying wood while adults can feed on plant juice and rotting fruit.

This species can be found in the eastern U.S and can be found at lights at night. Though having a more widespread range, there is some concern surrounding conservation status.

Currently in the collection I only have one male specimen. It is always an attention getter and people are always amazed at the size of both the mandibles and the specimen as a whole.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3105

Plectrodera scalator (Fabricius)

On By Erik OstrumIn Cerambycidae, ColeopteraLeave a comment

The first time I saw this species I was completely taken aback by the both the size and bold coloration. I was able to encounter quite a few while working in the wetlands of eastern Arkansas. Impressive just sitting there as well as flying.

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This is an unmistakable species marked in black and white coloration. This is a relatively widespread species commonly found in more wet areas where is can be found feeding on poplars, willows, and cottonwoods. There have been cases where this species has become a pest on the trees that its larvae feed on.

When people want to see some of my favorite species in the collection this species tray is always one of the ones I pull out and people are always in awe of them. I was able to collect a few specimens for the collection, all from Arkansas.

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Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/7956

http://entoweb.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/cottonwoodborer.htm