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A Bug for Dan

Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
In the 60s and 70s there were thousands of them every year, they were a danger to motorcyclists, it felt like getting shot. They started disappearing in the 80s, that's the first big one I've seen for about 30 years. Not sure why but I guess land clearing is the main problem and maybe pesticides.
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There are some very large species of scarab in several of the subfamilies. Some of the largest insects in the world are in the genus Megasoma and Goliathus and a few other genera. Some exceed 100 grams and would be a heck of thing to hit while driving a car, let alone on a motorcycle.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
There are some very large species of scarab in several of the subfamilies. Some of the largest insects in the world are in the genus Megasoma and Goliathus and a few other genera. Some exceed 100 grams and would be a heck of thing to hit while driving a car, let alone on a motorcycle.
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I've been doing a bit of reading on scarabs and I've decided if I come back as a scarab I don't want to be a cockchafer. Who thought up that name!
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
Are you getting involved with your recent find? It looks pretty cool. Really appreciate the value of citizen science for the education and citizen involvement in worthwhile research.
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Yeah, after an hour of trying to register. The website is a piece of junk.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
Yeah, after an hour of trying to register. The website is a piece of junk.
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I was having trouble navigating around some of the university sites to see what sort of entomology programs are available. So far, I found that they teach entomology at some of them.

Have a good night. Or day. I've got to get some sleep.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Someone posted a couple of tortoise beetles on the Aussie entomology page. I'd never heard of them, they have a clear shield over them but in the pic they've turned them over and there's a couple of tiny wasps attacking them. I don't want to steal their photos so here's a pic from wikipedia of a similar one.

1700859121582.jpeg
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
Someone posted a couple of tortoise beetles on the Aussie entomology page. I'd never heard of them, they have a clear shield over them but in the pic they've turned them over and there's a couple of tiny wasps attacking them. I don't want to steal their photos so here's a pic from wikipedia of a similar one.

View attachment 85027
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They are a leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. I have seen them, but where I am, I have not found them to be common or at least I have not seen them very often.

There are thousands of species of small wasps that are parasitoids on many other insects. That includes small wasps.

These wasps will lay eggs in or on the host and the life cycle will be completed on or in the host with adult wasps emerging from the dead or dying host.
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
I spent much of the morning trying to photograph a large metallic bug. It wouldn't land and my reflexes are no longer good enough for flying shots. After looking online I believe it was a Carpenter Bee perhaps Xylocopa aerata - Wikipedia . It looked blue to me but apparently they're green.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
I think this is a type of shield bug, It's about 12mm long and very iridescent when flying. At first I thought it was a scarab until it landed and I got some pics.

View attachment 85060View attachment 85061View attachment 85062View attachment 85063View attachment 85064View attachment 85065
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You are either correct or close. It is either a member of the family Pentatomidae (stinkbugs) or a closely related family like Scutelleridae. Do you have any shots less close?
 
John53

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville said:
You are either correct or close. It is either a member of the family Pentatomidae (stinkbugs) or a closely related family like Scutelleridae. Do you have any shots less close?
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Not at the moment, they're flying into and out of a Cheese Tree fairly high up and are hard to spot when they land. But I'll keep trying.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
Not at the moment, they're flying into and out of a Cheese Tree fairly high up and are hard to spot when they land. But I'll keep trying.
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You have trees that produce cheese? That's awesome!

Now, I'm going to have to be serious and look this up. Clearly, I'm not familiar.
 
Dan From Smithville

Dan From Smithville

The Flying Elvises, Utah Chapter
Staff member
Premium Member
John53 said:
Not at the moment, they're flying into and out of a Cheese Tree fairly high up and are hard to spot when they land. But I'll keep trying.
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That's a rather nice looking tree. I can see where it gets its common name from the little fruit.
 
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