Sunday 7 July 2013

Serendipity = Eyed click beetle

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:

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures of that beetle!

The Furry Gnome said...

You're right, it's a fascinating beastie! And huge.

Reader Wil said...

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.

Al said...

That is quite the beetle, I've never seen one like it.

Red said...

I know the feeling about missing shots and I don't even have lens to mess with. You got lucky anyway with the beetle.

Marisol@TravelingSolemates said...

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.

Judy said...

Wow!!! I would love to see something like that, I think...
And here I was getting excited about seeing a raccoon family...

DeniseinVA said...

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

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Well I learned something new today!!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

What a beauty! I like insects and he's an outstanding one.