Peter Clausen
Well-known member
Lion requested that some of the rest of us submit road cruising photos. Here's one I took a few weeks ago, but I'll have to add more photos later.
This post is taken from one in a discussion we had over at beetleforum.net
..............
My trip was slightly disappointing in terms of Amblycheila (tiger beetles), but maybe this short account will show that all is not lost and possibly have a familiar ring in the memories of other collectors.
I read the links other members shared above with great interest, along with a few others I made time to research in the final moments before the trip. In short, the planets seemed to be aligning for me to find the beetles. I would be in the right place at the right time.
I spent two nights camping around a lake that they have been found at. The first night I found a half dozen Pasimachus ground beetles, sometimes referred to as warrior beetles. A contact told me through email yesterday that their name translates to "universal warrior". Interesting, and certainly a fitting name. I also found a small Trox hide beetle. It was smaller than the species that Orin and I collected in Arizona two summers ago. A 17mm green ground beetle seemed a loner about 30 feet from the edge of the lake and unlike any I'd seen previously. A couple small tenebrionid darklings were found under bark that had been stripped from a tree. Aside from a very prevalent species of ant (and mosquitoes), beetles were the most numerous and certainly the most diverse insects to be found.
The second night was more exciting. Earlier that day I'd made a trip around the lake to scope out some more suitable habitat. I found sagebrush in much greater abundance on the other side of the lake, the soil was sandier and there was still plenty of grassland. I resolved to try my luck at night.
Aside from the aforementioned plants, Eleodes suturalis (tenebrionidae) was also said to be found in association with Amblycheila cylindriformis at this site. The tigers are nocturnal and can be found out ambling around at night. So, I did what I always do...road-cruise. With headlights on we (my dad and I and my two sleeping kids in the backseat) drove the road around the lake. It wasn't raining, the associated plants seemed perfect, the Pasimachus beetles were nowhere to be found (I'd predicated they might be outcompeted by the Amblycheila), and finally...another good sign. We found 5 or 6 Eleodes suturalis! My languid expectations took a huge upturn, but time constraints (sleeping children out past their bedtime) limited my results. At one point we stopped the car to investigate a large dark spot in the road and it turned out to be the run-over remnants of the target species (see below).
The story may seem like a failure, but really it was a success in a lot of ways. I began with good information (thanks again) and was then able to identify all the associated markers in the habitat. Finally, I did encounter one specimen!
It was most interesting to see how much the tiger beetle did appear to resemble the darkling beetle E. suturalis, as one paper had indicated it did. The mandibles, however, were in no way comparable. They were impressive! It's almost like this beetle is a cross between a Pasimachus and an E. suturalis.
I'm going back next year. Lastly, locals (my uncle) tells me that the weather in the preceding 30 days had been approx. 20 degrees cooler than average and considerably wetter. Indeed, much green grass was thickly covering the areas between the sagebrush. It is easy for me to assume that less rain would mean more and easier to see tiger beetles.
Attached is the run-over specimen, two shots of the lake and a bluebird.
This post is taken from one in a discussion we had over at beetleforum.net
..............
My trip was slightly disappointing in terms of Amblycheila (tiger beetles), but maybe this short account will show that all is not lost and possibly have a familiar ring in the memories of other collectors.
I read the links other members shared above with great interest, along with a few others I made time to research in the final moments before the trip. In short, the planets seemed to be aligning for me to find the beetles. I would be in the right place at the right time.
I spent two nights camping around a lake that they have been found at. The first night I found a half dozen Pasimachus ground beetles, sometimes referred to as warrior beetles. A contact told me through email yesterday that their name translates to "universal warrior". Interesting, and certainly a fitting name. I also found a small Trox hide beetle. It was smaller than the species that Orin and I collected in Arizona two summers ago. A 17mm green ground beetle seemed a loner about 30 feet from the edge of the lake and unlike any I'd seen previously. A couple small tenebrionid darklings were found under bark that had been stripped from a tree. Aside from a very prevalent species of ant (and mosquitoes), beetles were the most numerous and certainly the most diverse insects to be found.
The second night was more exciting. Earlier that day I'd made a trip around the lake to scope out some more suitable habitat. I found sagebrush in much greater abundance on the other side of the lake, the soil was sandier and there was still plenty of grassland. I resolved to try my luck at night.
Aside from the aforementioned plants, Eleodes suturalis (tenebrionidae) was also said to be found in association with Amblycheila cylindriformis at this site. The tigers are nocturnal and can be found out ambling around at night. So, I did what I always do...road-cruise. With headlights on we (my dad and I and my two sleeping kids in the backseat) drove the road around the lake. It wasn't raining, the associated plants seemed perfect, the Pasimachus beetles were nowhere to be found (I'd predicated they might be outcompeted by the Amblycheila), and finally...another good sign. We found 5 or 6 Eleodes suturalis! My languid expectations took a huge upturn, but time constraints (sleeping children out past their bedtime) limited my results. At one point we stopped the car to investigate a large dark spot in the road and it turned out to be the run-over remnants of the target species (see below).
The story may seem like a failure, but really it was a success in a lot of ways. I began with good information (thanks again) and was then able to identify all the associated markers in the habitat. Finally, I did encounter one specimen!
It was most interesting to see how much the tiger beetle did appear to resemble the darkling beetle E. suturalis, as one paper had indicated it did. The mandibles, however, were in no way comparable. They were impressive! It's almost like this beetle is a cross between a Pasimachus and an E. suturalis.
I'm going back next year. Lastly, locals (my uncle) tells me that the weather in the preceding 30 days had been approx. 20 degrees cooler than average and considerably wetter. Indeed, much green grass was thickly covering the areas between the sagebrush. It is easy for me to assume that less rain would mean more and easier to see tiger beetles.
Attached is the run-over specimen, two shots of the lake and a bluebird.
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