Unusual insects

Wade · Jan 15, 2005

WYSIWYG said:
Wade, are you trying to sell you have a particularly "smelly" house?

Wysi

Ha! No, it's just that I keep a lot of animals and the very small amount of rotten meat in the carrion beetle tank is hardly noticeble among the smells of the turtle tanks, python cages, rotting wood and leaves in beetle and millipede cages, cockroach and cricket bins etc.

Wade

Dark Raptor · Jan 21, 2005

Ok. If you are not bored to that moment by this stuff... more insects from my collection

Prionus coriarius (Cerambycidae) - As I remember I reared it from rottened oak wood
Lamia textor (Cerambycidae) - Reared from rottened willow wood
Geotrupes stercorosus (Geotrupidae) - this one is very easy to breed (on fruits, fertilizer and carcass), but watch out for the mites! (these are predators not parasites).

Heh... we have in Poland more than 26.000 insect species, so be prepared for more

I don't know why I love them so much

Spiderling LT · Jan 21, 2005

yes nice photo you hawe

and intresting bugs

in Lithuanian Prionus coriarius L. - Pjūklaūsis kelmagraužis

Spiderling LT · Jan 21, 2005

male of Lucanus cervus L, one wery rare beetle of Lithuania coleoptera.

Elizabeth · Jan 22, 2005

I don't quite understand this part, DarkRaptor:

"Geotrupes stercorosus (Geotrupidae) - this one is very easy to breed (on fruits, fertilizer and carcass), but watch out for the mites! (these are predators not parasites)."

The little creatures taking a ride on the back of that beetle in your pics, are those parasites? It looks like you are saying they are predators, not parasites. If that is so, what do you mean by that? Surely they aren't attacking that big beetle! Do they hitch a ride until something they would like to attack appears? And there are so many on the beetle. I find the quantity on one beetle astonishing! Is that normal?

Thanks for any more info you can give.

Dark Raptor · Jan 22, 2005

Elizabeth said:
The little creatures taking a ride on the back of that beetle in your pics, are those parasites? It looks like you are saying they are predators, not parasites. If that is so, what do you mean by that? Surely they aren't attacking that big beetle! Do they hitch a ride until something they would like to attack appears? And there are so many on the beetle. I find the quantity on one beetle astonishing! Is that normal?

Thanks for any more info you can give.

Yes... my english is sometimes terrible.
These mites are predators. They attack small invertebrates (diptera and other beetle larvae, smaller mites ect.) that lives on carrion or dungs that is visited by Geotrupes beetle. They use him as a "free transport".
The number of mites on that poor fellow is larger than normal. This is the reason, why I took this photo

Spiderling LT, my congratulations. I've never seen living specimen of that lucanid beetle. In Poland they are more common than in Lithuania (but of course very rare, not as in Bulgaria), so you are 2 times more lucky than me :clap:

Oh, yes... in polish Prionus coriarius is Dyląż garbarz (I don't know if you will be able to see polish letters).

Elizabeth · Jan 22, 2005

Well, your English was fine! I just couldn't believe it! Thanks for the picture and the info. What an unusual treat!

Dark Raptor · Jan 22, 2005

Ok. Now some Hymenoptera, and one Coleoptera (but dead).

Rhyssa sp. - male. Nice parasitoid. Females attack Cerambycidae larvae.

Bombus sp. - female...

"Non Hercules contra plures"

This Carabus coriaceus was very unlucky. That was his last fight with Formica rufa.

thedreadedone · Jan 22, 2005

this is a nice species that i've been working with

Dark Raptor · Jan 22, 2005

This one is great. Is it some kind of Prionotheca?

thedreadedone · Jan 23, 2005

It is Polposipus herculeanus

BakuBak · Jan 24, 2005

nice :]

U have to send me some of campestris amd gryllotalpas :] :]

last summer i have tried to get some campestris but they wear some kind infected :[

Dark Raptor · Jan 24, 2005

BakuBak said:
U have to send me some of campestris amd gryllotalpas :] :]

I will be able to get more Gryllus campestris in the spring (April, May).

And here, leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), they've got weird colours.

I didn't ID that one. On the left, you can see Alosterna tabacicolor (Cerambycidae).

Chrysomela populi - this one is easy to get and breed in Poland.

Lilioceris lilii - they are able to make sounds (something very rare in this family).

And Acanthoscelides obtectus, (former family: Bruchidae) - bean pest. Good food for small spiders and other insects.

Dark Raptor · Jan 27, 2005

Jaws!!!

Cychrus caraboides

Ocypus melanarius

Xyleborus monographus (?)

thedreadedone · Jan 27, 2005

Dark Raptor said:
Cychrus caraboides

Ocypus melanarius

WOW - great pics

Click to expand...

Dark Raptor · Jan 28, 2005

European elephant and another small thing...

Curculio glandium

This one is really small. This is Scydmenus sp.. Red lines shows lenght of 5 mm.

...and after magnification (80x)...

Dark Raptor · Feb 2, 2005

Vespa crabro

Another beautiful insect.

Be careful with that thing

Alex S. · Feb 2, 2005

Great pictures, Dark Raptor. Cychrus caraboides is a beautiful species. Its awesome how the labrum branches over the mandibles in many species of the tribe Cychrini.

Alex S.

Dark Raptor · Feb 4, 2005

Thanks!

Ok. Some new pics.

Geotrupes stercorosus - Geotrupidae

Carabus hortensis - Carabidae

Protaetia lugubris - Scarabaeidae

...and tell me if you are bored. We've got more than 26.000 insect species in Poland. Expect more pics in the future.

Raqua · Feb 4, 2005

Cool

Hey DarkRaptor how do you keep those Grylotalpa and Cerambridae spp. ?? I was once interested in those, but couldn't find anything about them ... It was before internet was really widespread .... haven't been looking recently, but I'm a bit qurious

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