insect Archives - El Mesteño Ranch and Arboretum https://elmestenoranch.com/category/fauna-2/insect/ Hidalgo County, Texas Fri, 23 Jun 2023 03:52:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://elmestenoranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cropped-20180808_093253-1-32x32.jpg insect Archives - El Mesteño Ranch and Arboretum https://elmestenoranch.com/category/fauna-2/insect/ 32 32 194751585 In Celebration of National Pollinator Week 2023! https://elmestenoranch.com/2023/06/_/5029/ Fri, 23 Jun 2023 03:52:42 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5029 Images are of a male Black-legged, long-horned native bee, (Svastra atripes), nectaring on Cowpen Daisy in Puerto Rico, Texas.

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A Long-horned bee making a “beeline” for Cowpen Daisy.

Images are of a male Black-legged, long-horned native bee, (Svastra atripes), nectaring on Cowpen Daisy in Puerto Rico, Texas.

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]]> 5029 The Fringed Diving Beetle https://elmestenoranch.com/2020/06/_/1690/ Wed, 17 Jun 2020 01:57:24 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=1690 This giant diving beetle is listed as a species of predaceous diving beetle found in North America.  They are found in aquatic environments and both larvae and adult prey on aquatic insects and fish. I found this particular one, already deceased, on the ground beside one of the watering troughs on a recent ranch visit.  Its green and yellow hard outer wings, that I have since learned are called elytra, were hard to miss as they stood out in quite stark contrast to the red, sandy soil that it lie motionless on. 

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Cybister fimbriolatus

This giant diving beetle is listed as a species of predaceous diving beetle found in North America.  They are found in aquatic environments and both larvae and adult prey on aquatic insects and fish. I found this particular one, already deceased, on the ground beside one of the watering troughs on a recent ranch visit.  Its green and yellow hard outer wings, that I have since learned are called elytra, were hard to miss as they stood out in quite stark contrast to the red, sandy soil that it lie motionless on. 

The beetle’s hard outer wings are called elytra.

A few beetle basics:

  • Most beetles are able to fly.
  • Some beetles, such as the Fringed Diving Beetle, are able to swim.
  • Beetles wear their skeletons on the outside—exoskeletons.   
  • Beetle bodies are divided into three (3) parts:   head, thorax, and abdomen. 
  • Beetles’ eyes are compound, which allow them to see many views of something all at once. 
  • The four stages of the beetle’s life cycle are:  egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

The larva of this beetle are known as “water tigers.”

Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylyum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Adephaga
Superfamily: Dytiscoidea
Family: Dytiscidae
Subfamily: Cybistrinae
Genus: Cybister

Fringes on its hind legs help it float and swim. 

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]]> 1690 Rainbow Scarab or Rhinoceros Dung Beetle https://elmestenoranch.com/2020/05/_/1623/ Sun, 24 May 2020 18:59:23 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=1623 Phanaeus vindex MacLachlan These cool looking beetles are so important for their recycling ability! They help breakdown animal feces by taking it into burrows where they use it to feed their young. Thanks to King and Chicle, there’s plenty of poo to go around as there are at least three different varieties of dung beetles at El Mesteño Ranch. Check out this article for more information about this important bug.

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These cool looking beetles are so important for their recycling ability! They help breakdown animal feces by taking it into burrows where they use it to feed their young.
Thanks to King and Chicle, there’s plenty of poo to go around as there are at least three different varieties of dung beetles at El Mesteño Ranch.

Rainbow Scarab
Phanaeus vindex MacLachlan

Check out this article for more information about this important bug.

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]]> 1623 Cave or “Camel” Cricket https://elmestenoranch.com/2019/02/_/1145/ Fri, 08 Feb 2019 04:26:01 +0000 http://elmestenoranch.com/?p=1145 (Ceuthophilus sp.)

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