First Collecting Trip (12 April 2014)!

The weather has finally gotten nice (except for the snow today…) and I was able to go collecting! Though early in the season, there were some insects and spiders out. I went to a local forest (a rare island in the sea of corn that is central Illinois), packed and ready for a variety of things. While there wasn’t any vegetation I could use my beating sheet on, there were still plenty of logs that could be flipped or broken and lots of peelable bark.

The morning started off slow, but things picked up as the day went on and we figured out what logs and bark could yield the insects we were after. And what could a better find than a bunch of beetles???

Pleasing fungus beetle (Megalodacne sp.)

This beautiful erotylid (pleasing fungus beetle) was under a piece of loose bark at the base of a dead tree. The same tree had a large number of dead curculionids (weevils) and coccinellids (lady beetles) under the bark. They all seemed to be infected with fungus, but that could have occurred after they died. Perhaps the frigid temps from this past winter killed them off and the fungus began breaking them down?

Forked fungus beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus)

After waiting over a year, I was finally able to capture the amazing forked fungus beetle (Family Tenebrionidae)! She was well camouflaged in a rotting log, likely looking for fungus to eat. This is one of the few non-lucanids that show sexual dimorphism, with males having large “fork-like” horns rising over their heads. Females (like the one seen above) have small bumps. While small, they are occasionally kept in the US beetle hobby. Hopefully I’ll find a male this year so I have a pair!

Oak stag beetle (Platycerus virescens)

The log with the B. cornutus also contained several oak stag beetles (Family Lucanidae)! This small stag beetle (maxing out at 12 mm) was a very cool find. I didn’t know this beetle existed until I found it and it was a pleasant surprise to find a lucanid so early in the season.

And on an 8-legged note, a couple flipped logs also yielded young fishing spiders (Dolomedes tenebrosus) and a jumping spider (not yet identified).

Fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus)

The unknown jumping spider peeking out at me

Couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the season! Here’s looking forward to collecting even more this year!