Tag: beetles

Reader wildlife photo

March 30, 2016 • 1:30 pm

by Greg Mayer

My Okinawa correspondent sends a happier picture than last time, this one of a living longhorn beetle, a member of the family Cerambycidae. Note the very long antennae, and the impressive tarsi. Cerambycids are often brightly or contrastingly colored.

An Okinawan longhorn beetle, 30.iii.2016.
An Okinawan longhorn beetle, 30.iii.2016.

Normally I’d have no idea what particular genus or species an Okinawan insect would be– I was happy I recognized the order and family!– but this seems to be an Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, which has become an invasive species in the US, Canada, Trinidad, and several European countries. The larvae feed on the sapwood of maples, elms, and other trees. If a reader more knowledgeable about Okinawan or East Asian insects has an opinion, please weigh in.

Sexual selection

March 24, 2009 • 9:42 am

by Greg Mayer

There’s a nice article by Nicholas Wade in today’s NY Times about the evolution of horns, antlers, and other organs of weaponry and display.  Much of the article explicates a recent review article, The Evolution of Animal Weapons, by Douglas Emlen of the University of Montana. Wade writes

Dr. Emlen noticed a tendency for weapons to start out small, like mere bumps of bone, and then to evolve to more ornate form. The small weapons are actually quite destructive since their only role is to attack other males. But the more baroque weapons, even though they look more fearsome, seem to cause lesser loss of life.

There’s a truly fabulous slide show of beetle weaponry by Emlen and his collaborators accompanying the online article, and a nice graphic on the diversity of weaponry in the print and online versions.  A taste of the slide show:Oxysternon conspicillatumYou really must see the whole thing.