It's the season for pearly everlastings. They're blooming on every sunny roadside. I picked a bouquet for the winter; the flowers stay white and yellow even dry. One clump held a swarm of tiny beetles.
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| Pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea, with beetles. |
I have spent a couple of hours skimming through about 3,000 photos of sap beetles on BugGuide, without finding a match. I've sent them the photo; maybe someone will recognize them.
In my Bugs of BC guide, the one that looks closest is a sap beetle, the so-called "beer beetle", but I don't see the 4 red spots that it would be wearing. And the beer beetles like fermented fruit, not necessarily flowers. So I'm still in the dark.
*UPDATE. Sara Rall, in the comments, gave me a name: they're tumbling beetles, in the genus Mordella. She gives me a link, and I found more on BugGuide (for example), in this general area. So that's it. Thanks, Sara!
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Es la temporada para las flores "perla perpetua"; ahora alumbran cada margen asoleado del camino, Recogí un ramo para alegrar mi casa en el invierno: las flores secas mantienen su color fresco, blanco y amarillo, todo el año.
Unas plantas traían estos escarabajos miniaturos. Me he pasado varias horas revisando fotos en BugGuide, tratando de identificarlos, sin mucha suerte. Les mandé mi foto. Tal vez alguien los reconocerá.
En mi guía "Bugs of BC", hay un escarabajo algo parecido, el dicho "escarabajo de cerveza", pero éste tiene cuatro puntos rojos muy evidentes. Y les gusta la fruta fermentada (y la cerveza), las flores no tanto. Así que me quedo con la duda.
¡YA LO TENEMOS! Es un escarabajo de los Mordella, los "escarabajos revolcadores".
Not that I've ever had luck getting these to species, but I think you might have tumbling flower beetles instead, something like this: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56468896
ReplyDeleteThanks! That looks right. I found a bunch on BugGuide here in BC and in Washington State, all identified as Mordella, without a species. And they all look right. I'll update the post.
DeleteI always feel myself relax reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gary.
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