Stag Beetle and Firefly

danielj

June 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am

Categories

Lucanus Capreolus sends his thanks! Also: Firefly – Photinus
Hi Bugman –
The "Lucanus capreolus, Reddish-brown Stag Beetle" in the attached photo would like to thank you for saving its life! Normally, I’m a "Smash First, Ask Questions Later" kind of person when it comes to bugs, and had it not been for a recent visit to your website, where I happened upon a picture of the Elephant Stag Beetle, "Smash First" would definitely have been my reaction upon catching sight of this monstrous *beast* hanging out near the garage door on Sunday. (It was five inches long! I swear! Well… in my head, anyway. In reality, it was probably about 1.5 inches long.) Anyway, having learned from WTB that these are fairly harmless to people, I let him be. Last I saw, he was headed back to sit amongst the geraniums. (Where, unbeknownst to me until I checked the photos later that evening, he had been hiding out while I was taking some other flower pictures. (Mental note to self: Always wear your Mud Gloves when poking around in the flowers.)) Also attached are some pictures of a Firefly (Lampyridae), Genus Photinus, crawling around on the aforementioned geraniums. I couldn’t find any of this particular genus on your website already, and thought you might like some. Thanks again for WTB!
Brenda
Sun Prairie, WI