They lay their eggs and complete their life cycle on various types of lilies. I inspected my orange lilies (which haven’t bloomed yet) for signs of damage, but there was nothing. From the looks of this particular beetle, compared to the ones I saw online, it looks like it’s starving.
Since it’s not a native species, I captured it in one of my kid’s live bug traps, about 6 feet from my lilies, to show friends and neighbors. I've asked a few of them if they've ever seen beetles like this before, but so far no one has.
I’ve offered the beetle various types of leaves to eat too, but it’s not touching them. Perhaps it’s like a salmon that stops eating before and after they lay their eggs, and now it’s preparing for the end. Who knows? Please let me know if I’m wrong about this beetle’s identification, or if you have ever seen them where you live.
As of June 15, 2010, I've discovered from my friend Matt, that this is actually a Net Winged Beetle (Dictyopterus simplicipes). Thanks Matt!
If you would like to see more photos from those participating in Ruby Tuesday, just click on the link.
10 comments:
What a beautiful shot. I love the shade of red of the beetle. I've seen some beetles in our garden, but most of them are pretty forgettable.
BTW, glanced through your other posts - so impressed with your photography! cheers, happy ruby tuesday, mari
Great shot! First time I've seen one.
Happy RT!
Liza (mcn)
Wow, what a RED beetle - great capture!!
I generally cringe over bugs. However, this one fascinates. I'm actually studying it for details.
Wow, that is red. Great shot. Here in California, we have a beetle which is all black with two bright red spots, but I don't know what it's called.
My first Ruby Tuesday is at this link:
http://joyofdesserts.blogspot.com/2010/06/red-diners.html
What a cool looking bug and a beautiful color! Great capture! Happy Ruby Tuesday!
Buongiorno Gwyn, a great pic, this bug has a wonderful colour
What winding roads of inquiry our findings take us down. Thanks for sharing your find with us. It is beautiful and we can wonder at it, too.
Was thinking of you yesterday when a friend at work mentioned he and his fam are vacationing with friends in Juno this summer. Lucky them to be in your beautiful city!
-Kim
Nice photo! Looks like a net-winged beetle. The ones I've seen around Sitka are Dictyoptera simplicipes. A good place to get help with insect identifications is bugguide.net
Hope this helps,
Matt Goff
Matt, thanks for the help identifying this beetle. I appreciate it.
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