Sunday, August 14, 2011

anudder bug to ID -- fanTAStic antennae

  
Photos are big....


Wow.

TOTALLY made my night.


Bug belly.

=)

About an inch and a half long,
based on memory, and no ruler.
Was clinging to window screen last night,
presumably attracted to the light?

Went to bed soon thereafter, and shut all lights off,
so it could go its merry way.

bb

P.S. Looking at Bugguide.net, I'm thinking that the genus Selonodon looks best, though I really don't know, and on some of the species pages therein they talk about how these beetles are very hard to identify. Apparently there is a LOT of variation. If anyone knows better, or just has another idea, I'd love to hear it. =) Comment away!


2 comments:

  1. he's a looker! My bugger id is kinda lacking. Sweet find!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Did you hold the click beetle? I still love holding them and feeling their clicks as they try to right themselves. It's probably very cruel, but I do let them go afterwards.

    What grabbed my attention on this post was I have a click beetle I haven't properly identified, yet, and I've since purchased Evans and Hogue's Field Guide to Beetles of CA.

    I couldn't find anywhere in my books whether there is sexual dimorphism in click beetle antennae. Assuming there is not, then the feathery/pectinate antennae could be diagnostic.

    Selonodon does not have matching antennae with your click beetle. And, I know you don't rely on previously published collection data, but Selonodon is found in the southeastern US to AZ and UT, not CA.

    My guess is a species of Octinodes or Euthysanius. Given the overall pubescence, I'm leaning towards Octinodes.

    Of course, there are many beetles out there that are not mentioned in field guides. If you still really want to know, I'd ask Ted from Beetles in the Bush; he seems happy to help with beetle IDs on blogs.

    ReplyDelete

Cool people write inside rectangles....