Suggestions & help for my beetle article

[Scythemantis]

I'm writing up a "top twenty" list of the most unusual and remarkable beetles for my website, and could use all the suggestions and further details I can get!

Here's my list so far:

Psephenidae - "water pennies" named for their bizarre larval stage.

Platypsyllus castoris - the "beaver louse," found living only in beaver fur.

Mormolyce - "violin beetles" known for their weird shape, and acidic secretion.

Trachelophorus giraffa - Giraffe necked weevil

Cicindelinae - tiger beetles (for both the adults and the equally cool larva)

Scaphinotus - snail-eating carabid beetle

Phrixothrix (boy is that fun to say) - bioluminescent "railroad worms" have larviform females and prey exclusively on millipedes.

Gyrinidae - the "whirligig beetles" who spend their lives buzzing around the surface of water.

Duliticola - the "trilobite beetles" so named for their larvae and females.

Photuris - the "cannibal" fireflies who imitate the mating signals of other species.

Meloe franciscanus - the blister beetle whose brood parasite larvae collectively imitate female bees.

Gymnopholus lichenifer - the weevil that grows lichens on its back. Unfortunately can't find any photographs or much more detailed information.

Nicrophorus pustulates - the "pustulated carrion beetle" is known to engage in the cool "burial ritual" of other Nicrophorus but seems to prefer laying its eggs alongside those of snakes, making it a brood parasite with a vertebrate host!

Bombardier beetles - need no introduction.

-So, I have room for six more beetles to talk about. I definitely want to include at least one rove beetle, maybe a couple, as they have such diverse and weird habits! Can anyone suggest specific species? I've heard of some rove beetles that live in the fur of mammals as beneficial predators of ticks, anyone know their latin names?

I've also heard of a hister beetle genus (Psiloscelis) whose larvae live in ant nests and are nurtured by the ants, but adults are ant predators. I need more details on this.

Definitely interested in more parasitic/parasitoid beetles.

 

[cacoseraph]

nice dude

i think you might have one in there already, but you might want to include and specifically mention the beetles that retain a larviform into adulthood. i think rove might be one


maybe the biolum click beetles.


also, if you want i could either take one myself or find a better photog (maybe. finding a better fotog is easy, finding one to just give you a pic maybe not as much)... but i am in Scanto range and find them quite often. i could take "your own" habitat and in situ pics, if that interests you





what about some of the BIG ass beetles?

or a big one that emerges from a rotten log type of situation on reaching imago. maybe show a pic of a big ol' exit hole in the log or something






are there any particularily long lived beetles?






maybe the beetles that seem to be the critical component in a *poison* poison dart frog's diet?



hmm hmm... have any aquatic stuff in there?


tiniest beetle?






edit:
i'm posting a link on my forum, cuz i am not a beetle person but know some ppl who are. can i maybe quote your list? i will quotepost back any hits if you would like. you can follow the play by play here: http://scabies.myfreeforum.org/about4759.html

 

[Scythemantis]

Thanks!

I wasn't sure if I'd include any beetles just for being huge, but the big horned wrestlers have pretty cool lifestyles I shouldn't pass up anyway, and I can talk about the beetle fighting culture in Japan. I'm also considering the titan ground beetle, though most of its life is a mystery. Last I heard we didn't even know its larval stage!

 

[What]

Amphizoa insolens

Edit: Apteroloma caraboides might be interesting for you to talk about too...

Have a list: http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/a-directory-of-friday-beetles/
His blog has been a favorite of mine for quite awhile, in fact, the palo verde borer post was the one I first found while doing some research on them...

 

[Stylopidae]

What about Rhipicerids or ambrosia beetles?

 

[beetleman]

how about MANTICORA(giant tiger beetle) or ANTHIA(giant ground beetle):clap:....just a thought

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

You seem to be missing rhinoceros beetles which are remarkable for their size and strength not to mention thoracic armature.

 

[peejay]

Unusual beetles

Hi,
I agree that you should add the giant carnivorous beetles Anthia, Thermophyllum and Manticora.
They all come from around Africa, and are really spectacular.
For information, look on Beetles of Africa
Coleop-terra
Carabidae of the world

peejay