On Monday, August 22, 2005, at 05:06 PM, Gary Sibio wrote:
There is a type of beetle called a click beetle. This may be one. They are harmless. Pick one up and put it upside down on your hand or other surface. It snaps its wing covers in such a manner that it will pop up in the air and - hopefully - land upright.
There is a really big one in the American tropics that has lights on its wing covers. They're very bright. We're talking a three-inch beetle, so not like the tiny ones we see in the USA.
Someone brought one back from South America and turned it loose in Paris in the mid 1800s, and caused a panic. People were reporting a ghost making its way around the streets. Ultimately someone caught it and identified it.
These beetles have developed a pretty nifty way of getting upright if they get turned on their backs, this arching and clicking that throws them up in the air if you put them on a hard surface. Although butterflies were my first love, beetles were second, particularly the gigantic ones found in the tropics.
BTW, there's a really nice article in the latest Studio Photography & Design magazine about Paul Eekhoff, a photographer who takes great photos of insects. You can see some of them at www.pauleekhoff.com, although the best ones from the article don't seem to be there. If you don't get Studio Photography & Design and you make any of your living from photography, you should sign up. It's free. www.imaginginfo.com It's well designed and beautifully printed.
Bob
