Subject: Possible Velvet Ant?
Location: Northeast Los Angeles
March 20, 2013 2:17 pm
Hello again! One more for you, that I’ve been holding on to for a while. This little guy was also found on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, I believe last spring. Its appearance says ”velvet ant” to me, but I can’t find a similar image online. Classic velvet ants seem to be much more colorful, with more red or orange.
Thanks!
Signature: Jonathan V
Hi Again Jonathan,
We are nearly certain this is a Checkered Beetle in the family Cleridae, but our initial search on BugGuide did not produce any matches. If it is not a Checkered Beetle, our second choice is a Darkling Beetle. We will contact Eric Eaton for some assistance.
Eric Eaton provides a correction: Ipochus fasciatus
Daniel:
We were both wrong! You thought it was a clerid or a tenebrionid. I thought for certain it was a spider beetle (Anobiidae: Ptininae or Ptinidae). Turns out it is a longhorn! Here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/125447
Crazy. I knew it looked familiar, but it took looking in an old, dusty copy of Essig’s Insects and Mites of Western North America to find a figure that matched.
Would love to share these images on Bugguide and maybe in a blog post. Thanks.
Eric
That’s fantastic, Daniel, thanks! Boy, I wasn’t seeing a beetle at all, but now that I look at some other pictures and look at the legs, etc., it’s much more beetle-like. No wonder I couldn’t find anything like it under the Velvet Ants. Back to Entomology 101, I guess (and that was a long time ago!).
Please pass along my permission to use the images, if Eric would like. Happy to help.
This is some kind of Cerambycidae (unique antenna) from subfamily lamiinae (flat face). I haven’t seen so hairy longhorn beetle yet. Hope you’ll identify it soon.
Thanks so much Mardikavana. Eric Eaton identified it as Ipochus fasciatus.