mating pennyslvania leatherwings.
Hey bugman,
I thought I would share with you this image of a mating pair of pennsylvania leatherwings that I captured the other day near our house in Seymour, Tennessee, which is just south of Knoxville. I know you probably get a lot of these, but i thought that the angle on this photo was really cool. Anyway enjoy! I love the new layout of the site!
Michael Davis
Seymour, Tennessee
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the positive words about our new site format. Your mating Pennsylvania Leatherwings, AKA Goldenrod Soldier Beetles, is quite a nice addition to our archives
Update: 29 September 2008
It is time for us to select a Bug of the Month, and we almost chose the Locust Borer, but that was our Bug of the Month for October 2007. Pennsylvania Leatherwings, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus, are a good choice, because like the Locust Borer, they are associated with that common wildflower Goldenrod. When the Goldenrod blooms in the fall, there is an entire ecosystem that depends upon it for survival. We have fond memories of running through the fields in Ohio when the Goldenrod was in bloom, after school started but before the cold winter weather arrived. Preying Mantids were everywhere, as were a variety of Orb Weaving Spiders. The Monarch Butterflies were migrating, and the last Swallowtails and Fritillaries and Painted Ladies came to the blossoms for nectar. Wasps and Bees and the beetles that mimic them like the Locust Borer were everywhere on the flowers. Grasshoppers were hopping and flying about. The Pennsylvania Leatherwings were also quite common, but their smaller size kept them from being the dramatic stars in the drama of eat or be eaten that was happening around them..