Yes, tis true. I was doing the lawn with the tractor, and spotted what I thought was a Monarch butterfly. Typically enough, by the time I ran in, and changed to the 400mm lens, it was gone. (Turns out it was a Great spangled fritillary!)Our milkweed had just started to blossom, and they smell wonderful! I was expecting the Monarch butterflies about now.
I tramped sadly past the tractor, about to put the camera down and get back to work, when I spotted this interesting critter.
An Eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus) went flying by. It is an interesting beastie. I tried to get a photo, and nudged it. It bent its body and made a huge 'click' sound! Between that and its eyes on its pronutum, it is a formidable thing.
I photographed its belly, which was similarly intriguing. Whilst I didn't measure it, it appeared to be about 3" long! You can its wings in the first photo.
They live in forests, in rotten wood. As a larva, it eats grubs and wood-boring beetles.
They feed on nectar and plant juice.
10 comments:
Lovely pictures of that beetle!
You're right, it's a fascinating beastie! And huge.
Well that's a very interesting insect. I have never seen one like that!
Thanks for your visit and comment.You have to travel a long way to see your son. I have a daughter in Australia, so I know what you feel! It takes me about 36 hours to see her.
Have a great new week.
That is quite the beetle, I've never seen one like it.
I know the feeling about missing shots and I don't even have lens to mess with. You got lucky anyway with the beetle.
What an interesting creature. I've never seen or heard about it before. Most of all, your shots of it is interesting. Really great capture of a small subject.
Wow!!! I would love to see something like that, I think...
And here I was getting excited about seeing a raccoon family...
This is a new bug to me, I love to discover new ones and yours is quite a handsome one. Great photos and thanks so much for stopping by my blog.
Denise
An English Girl Rambles
Well I learned something new today!!
What a beauty! I like insects and he's an outstanding one.
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