Entomologists have discovered a remarkable new genus and species of longhorn beetle living in the subtropical rainforests of southeastern Queensland, Australia. Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) are one of the most diverse animal families on the planet with over 36,000 recognized living species and 5,100 genera. The Australian fauna contains approximately 1,400 recognized species distributed amongst more […]
Tag: beetle
Many Australians believe Christmas beetles are disappearing. Is it true?
In eastern Australia the arrival of the summer holidays has traditionally been heralded by big iridescent beetles known as Christmas beetles due to their appearance during the festive season. Public perception seems to suggest these lovely insects may no longer be arriving in high numbers. Each year insect scientists like us field questions from the […]
Seven-striped Darkling? – Haradh
Whilst birding the Tabuk area I came across a number of darkling beetles resembling Pitted Beetle feeding around the edge of some large pivot irrigation fields. They were not this species and looked like a Seven-striped Darkling although this is mainly nocturnal? This was a medium sized beetle, with the head and thorax almost the […]
Pumas engineer their environment, providing habitat for other species
New research suggests that mountain lions in the western United States play an outsize role in changing their surroundings, leading the authors of the study to suggest that the big cats are “ecosystem engineers.” In a study published online Nov. 30 in the journal Oecologia, biologist Mark Elbroch and his colleagues demonstrate that the assortment […]
Blister Beetle – Wadi Grosbeak
The Blister Beetles (Coleoptera:Meloidae) are global distributed insects except for New Zealand and the Antarctic region and are also called Oil Beetles. The species seen near Bani Saad wasMylabris calidathat has a distribution in central Asia (east to China and Korea), Caucasus and Transcaucasia, southern Balkan Peninsula, Near East, Levant and Arabian Peninsula and northern […]
Trophy Hunting May Drive Extinctions, Due to Climate Change
Trophy hunters, as well as poachers who “harvest” the big males—antelopes and deer with the largest horns and antlers, elephants with the longest tusks, or lions with the most impressive manes—are putting those species at greater risk of extinction with climate change. That’s the finding of a new study published today by researchers at Queen […]
A Walk in Central Park
Last week I led a nature walk in Central Park for the American Museum of Natural History’s Membership Department. Even though I got rained on twice, there was a lot to see. Here are some of the wild creatures that were in the park on Wednesday. Turtles were basking in The Lake. Red-eared sliders are […]
Rose Weevil
Rose weevils have long beaks with chewing mouthparts at the end. They poke them into rosebuds and munch away, making holes. When the buds unfold, the damaged layers unfurl. Rose weevils lay eggs in some of the holes they drill in buds. The eggs hatch into wormlike larvae that feed inside the bud and can […]