Monday, December 28, 2009

Hister Beetle (Macrolister latipes) Histeridae

Another scary-looking one but luckily he is only about 1 inch in length.



40 comments:

  1. What a wonderful and intricate little creature.

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  2. wonderful macro shots they are so clear.
    check out the wasp eating a large bug on the
    http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/
    it will be blogged in 1/2 hour

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  3. AAAAAHHHHHHHH!

    *Only* an inch? Joan you've got to be kidding me.

    He is so creepy and scary looking - which makes him absolutely FASCINATING and beautiful too!

    I'm not really scared... I know it's just a picture... but YIKES if I saw one staring at me from a tree I might just pee a little. LOL

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  4. Awesome photos! I don't know much about those, are they aggressive? They always make them seem that way in movies.

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  5. For some reason this one doesn't bother me to much, though I wouldn't want to see it in person. It brings back memories of Disney's movie Aladdin.

    Is it a good bug, or a bad bug?

    Do you have any of those dung rolling bugs over there Joan?

    Sharon

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  6. A very interesting blog, with beautiful images, for know a country exotic for me. Congratulations!
    I wish you a happy 2010.
    Best regards from Barcelona.

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  7. Oh my..he is a little scary looking but great macro Joan.. I haven't been able to figure out how to save your past posts by grabbing them in a reader..maybe someone else would know how to grab the last 18 months of your blog from an RSS reader...

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  8. Oh my what amazing shots Joan. He does look a bit scary. You captured those feet perfectally!
    B.

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  9. Insects like these look like warriors with armour on. And the little hairs they have are like cool adornments.

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  10. So beautiful, so perfect - and so scary! And so wonderful shots.

    Päivi

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  11. Hi Joan,

    How you doing, Hope you had a wonderful christmas :) good to have you back Joan

    Hey what happened to all you old post?

    Nice capture of this scarry little guy, reminds of the movie MUMMY :)

    Flowering Cactus, that's interesting and the flower looks so pretty....

    liked the post on hippo's, wonderful photo's Joan

    Three for a price of one - you've been lucky on that... nice catch :)

    Have a nice day, take care
    sam

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  12. Joan: Take care around them, I think in the movies they eat you alive. Aren't they the ones in the tombs?

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  13. Hi Joan,

    I'm pretty sure this is a hister beetle and not a scarab. You can tell by the shortened elytra which expose several abdominal segments.

    Hister beetles are usually found on carrion and sometimes dung. While they may feed on the decomposing matter, more often they are predaceous on other insects encountered in the habitat such as flies.

    Regards--ted

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  14. Wow, what a cool beetle with very unusual looking front feet.

    I'm way behind reading blogs.

    Hugs!

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  15. Sorry Joan for my late comment. I have been quit busy this week just enjoying myself with close friends. Hey, that beetle can really give one a good bite LOL!

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  16. Hi Joan, I'm here! That beetle looks as though it has one broken leg and another missing. What did you do? Beat it up before photographing it, LOL! Beetles are one insect that I rarely ever see, though we do have some large ones around in the mountains, good work on photographing that one.

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  17. Thanks Jim. I am always fascinated by these small creatures.

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  18. Loved the post on the wasp and the caterpillar Tony as well as the one on the spider. Excellent captures.

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  19. Thanks Mary. The hairs around the jaw fascinated me and I wonder what they are for.

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  20. LOL!! If it was any bigger I might have wet myself too Penny. LOL!!

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  21. Thanks Leeloo's mum. No, all of these insects are quite harmless to us. They might bite birds which try to eat them though. :)I would hate to be on the receiving end of those pinchers. LOL!!

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  22. Glad to hear you are getting more used to these bugs Sharon. :) Yes we do have dung beetles here and they are part of the same family as this. It is quite fun to watch them although the smell is awful. :)

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  23. Thanks for visiting and commenting Albert. With all your traveling you would probably enjoy South Africa as it is a very interesting country.

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  24. Thanks Michelle. I wrote to the people in charge of the Reader but they were not able to help either. What I did manage to do was to go into it and e-mail myself the dialoge I wrote for some of my posts which is a great help as I still have the pictures.

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  25. LOL!! Lovely description Bernie. I was wondering about those hairs myself.

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  26. Thanks Päivi. You do not allow comments on your blog so I am going to say here that I wish you a wonderful 2010. May it bring your lots of peace, joy and happiness.

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  27. Thanks Sam. I deleted all my old posts as I did not think they would be of interest to anyone anymore.

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  28. Now you've scared me Tom. LOL!! Guess I am going to have to watch out when photographing these in future or I migh loose a finger, a hand or even an arm. :)

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  29. Hello Ted. I have never heard of a hister beetle and I do not see any of that name in my book. Please tell me more. What is the family name so I can check it out? You are always so helpful and I appreciate it very much.

    What would the red hairs around the mouth be for? A very interesting beetle. I was away on the coast for a few days and was hoping to find a tiger beetle for you but did not see any. I will keep up my search for them when in different locations.

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  30. Hello Gaelyn. Dont worry my friend, I think I may be more behind than you are. I had a WONDERFUL few days!!

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  31. Being busy with friends is no excuse Lawrence. I expect you to pay more attention to my posts and not be late.

    By order of the Major General.

    LOL!! LOL!

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  32. It is really wonderful to have you back again Ken. I did miss your comments and am pleased you started your interesting blog again.

    LOL!! You know I have to beat all these things into submission before I can get to take pictures of them as they are so large and scary. :)

    Funny, but until you mentioned it I did not realize that you do not post beetle pics. I wonder why they are scarce by you? Do you think it is pesticides or just the climate? Hmmm!! Interesting!!

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  33. I am so glad you are back Andrea. I hope you enjoyed your few days vacation and that you had a great Christmas and New Year.

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  34. Hi Joan,

    Family Histeridae. The orange hairs are probably involved in handling and manipulating food during feeding.

    Best regards--ted

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  35. Thanks so much for this Ted. I will check and see what more information I can get on them. Hope you have a fantastic 2010 and find a unknown Tiger to name after you. :)

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