cnestus - Tumblr blog

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weevils have good textures

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Brachypremna dispellens (Tipulidae) just hanging out at my field site in louisiana. they're known as the dancing crane fly because the males dance and flop around in a big swarm to attract females. i've also observed a number of them just chilling on spider webs and the spiders don't seem to mind. they're big too; those legs are probably 2.5-3 inches long easily

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ptilinum glamour shots

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some bugs i saw at work 1.VI.2022 - 9.VI.2022

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tephritid fly with cute little dragon horns

[cnestus]

What is our ecological responsibility when encountering an invasive animal species?

that depends on what that species is, and im struggling to come up with any catch-all response to that. there are a lot types of animals.

some stuff is way beyond our control, like the invasion of earthworms into North America and many other invertebrate species—it would be just as much of a waste of effort trying to kill all the spotted lanternflies as it would be to dig up every worm in the forest.

for stuff like fish, cats, and hogs… I really don’t know. this isn’t my area of expertise but I do think invasive mammals are at least a little easier to exclude/control/manage through hunting and trapping than minute flying or soil borne invertebrates (maybe not the hogs. they sound unstoppable). also people tend to get very stupid when it concerns charismatic or domesticated megafauna, even if vulnerable native ecology is at stake.

in all cases, prevention is most important: don’t let pets loose, make note of unfamiliar insects or help to track the spread of establishing species.

I also think it is important to not demonize or abuse the invasive animals regardless of what we need to do to control them. they’re not evil, they’re just trying to survive—torturing them doesn’t accomplish anything. so even if cane toads and cats and horses have to be killed to protect native ecosystems, we ought to find ways to do that that both have the intended effect and don’t cause unnecessary harm.

also, please no “humans are the invasive species” thing. I will hit you with my ecologist stick

[cnestus]

a formidable beast, Odonteus obesus (Geotrupidae), fort churchill state historic park, NV, 2010

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toad bug, Gelastocoris sp.

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truly nothing more satisfying than finding a big pile of Cnestus mutilatus in a trap catch

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Ipochus fasciatus (Cerambycidae)

[cnestus]

oh my god i had a suspicion it was going to be some kind of absurdly derived tenebrionid and sure enough it is: Rhipidandrus sp.

a tiny (2mm) mystery i came across while sorting beetles today. it was right at the end of the workday so i didn't have too much time to mess around with it and couldn't even suss out what family it's in. it's cute as hell though whatever it is! i've never seen antennae like this on such a little guy.

[cnestus]

a tiny (2mm) mystery i came across while sorting beetles today. it was right at the end of the workday so i didn't have too much time to mess around with it and couldn't even suss out what family it's in. it's cute as hell though whatever it is! i've never seen antennae like this on such a little guy.

[cnestus]

lab bug roundup

Lomachaeta sp. x2 Membracidae, Lycidae larva Eustenopus villosus, Paraclivina bipustulata Patapius spinosus, Scathophaga stercoraria Notiophilus aeneus, Euthyrhynchus floridanus

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👀

Flat Brown Scavenger Beetle, Necrophilus hydrophiloides (Agyrtidae)

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♫guess who just found some longhorn bees snoozing in the fennel♫

the answer is @gachimushi, but i took the photos

Melissodes sp, probably

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Lytta sublaevis (Meloidae)

Carrizo Plain National Monument, 2019

[cnestus]

happy #worldrobberflyday everyone. i crept down to my department’s entomology teaching collection and photographed some friends.