Prionus emarginatus
Hi Guys,
Well not as many as last night but close! I have collected I think 10-12 but they are hard to count :0) Vicki took a few more pictures (actually over 100) but I thought I would send along her best. They are taken in a white container again but not a white box so it shows a reflection against the container. The grass in it is Timothy hay. I will try to keep them alive until you tell us what to do with them. I am flattered that you thought I could actually photoshop in the hairs but one of these shows the bottom of the bug too and it is also hairy. No Photoshopping was done, it is simply cropped down from an 8MP digital camera on macro lens in iPhoto on a Mac computer. Also these are a little smaller than the one we caught last night, but we let him go after taking the pictures of him.
Jo
This is the info that can be posted with the photos (as Eric wants to make a page of this particular beetle) Photographer: Victoria Lawson-Petit Date: July 2-3, 2008 Weather: Afternoon and early evening heavy summer rains Time: 9-9:30 pm Attraction: Porch light (they just come in my house under screen door) Where: Elbert, Colorado 80106 Elevation: 6750 ft. We are on the Arkansas Divide (a small mountain range that juts out into the Eastern Plains of Colorado) (Arkansas River goes south / Platte river goes north of this divide) Terrain: foothills, ponderosa pine and a few other varieties of pine, Oak along the creek, the area is also known for its Chokecherry bushes, Farm and Ranch land is 90% of Elbert, County. Camera: Polaroid 8MP digital camera with macro lens.
Wow Jo,
Vicki did a wonderful job on the new photos. If she decides to study photography in the future, I am chair of Media Arts at LACC and I teach photography.
Daniel
Update: (07/06/2008)
Daniel:
In looking up the potential candidates for the lepturine longhorned beetle, I used “A Survey of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera), or Longhorned Beetles, of Colorado,” (the first installment of a series entitled Insects of Western North America), by Daniel J. Heffern, 1998, published by the Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management Publications (geez, what a mouthful!). Anyway, I decided to see what it had to say about Prionus emarginatus: “Type Locality [where the specimen first described to science was collected]: ‘Arkansas River near the Mountains.’ Hosts: Oryzopsis. Craighead (1923) reports larvae being associated with grasses. Discussion: Gwynne and Hostetler (1978) describe a mass emergence of this species in the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Its life cycle apparently requires three years. Distribution: AZ, CO, ID, NE, NM, WY….” Feel free to add whatever is appropriate to the “ongoing saga,” or don’t….
Eric