Hi Jim,

Rearing Orphaned Folsom Bugs, are we? :-) Your beetles are at least well-traveled. ;-)

Looking at the higher-res images (shot at 8mpixel) - I'm wondering if those white spots might be early-stage White Muscardine infection?

You're probably correct regarding having seen this species before. The coloration and markings were pretty unique to my experience, though.

Thanks!

--- Jodie

Dear Mr. Fahmy,

Wow! Thank you for the super-quick and obviously accurate ID!

Bob is quite the "bug guy" - I'm more into the Arachnids. ;) He wasn't able to positively identify this one, so offered to post here.

Following your ID, I further investigated on The Internet, and from those specimen photos, I'm feeling good about your ID.

Are you familiar with the geographic dispersion of this example? I've never seen another like it in Northern California (and I do a lot of hiking/photography here).

Again, thank you for your input, it is much appreciated! I too look forward to your identification help, and best of luck with your travel plans!

--- Jodie

[edit: Oops! Sorry Bob! Stepped on your toes whilst registering for an account!]

thank you Jodie. im better at identifying arachnids too. maybe ill have the honor of learning from you some.

maybe you should give us your opinion here

thank you for your wishes on my travels. they have been postponed till next year.

again looking forward to hearing more from you guys

Thanks for the quick id. A friend took this photo earlier today. When she described it on the phone, I couldn't positively confirm the id. After seeing the photo I was sure that I've never seen this one in northern California before.
Is it unusual to find this insect in northern California?

This is an introduced Asian species that's displacing natives at an alarming rate. Basically, one could expect to find them just about anywhere, but perhaps they've only just begun to take hold in your area.

I certainly have had them for at least a few years in southern California, and there wouldn't be any barriers to keep them from going north.

By the way, If you're not the one that took the photo, you need to put the credit for the actual photographer in the appropriate place

True, there wouldn't be any barrier outside of climate.

I'm the photographer. The photograph was posted and used by Bob with my explicit permission. For this use, the Copyright was assigned to him with him acting as my agent on the site. In short, the Copyright was correctly used and maintained...

The point isn't whether he had permission (if he hadn't, we wouldn't want him to post it at all), but that the credit was attributed correctly. When you upload a picture, there's a blank where you can say who the photographer is. That way it would say "submitted by [contributor's name]" but it would also say © [photographer's name] 2006.

It's obviously not so much of an issue when it's obvious that both of you agreed to post it without that, but this site is built on voluntary contributions of copyrighted material- so we want to make a habit of protecting copyrights and giving credit where credit is due.

I would have found it helpful if there was a space to enter the photographer's name. There was a space about copyright (which is a confusing term between friends) but no clear place for photographer. I would have been happy to credit Jodie as the original photographer had I been familiar with the routine here.

When you do the original upload, or edit it using the edit link, the last box in the page is for "copyright owner." I'm sorry if I was vague about the details- I hadn't taken the time yet to look them up and didn't want to give you the wrong information.

Don't worry- no one is expecting you to just know how to do things right away. I was trying to inform you, but instead came across as nagging- my apologies.

We're not a terribly authoritarian site: mostly we ask politely, rather than ordering. Even the process of removing images (by putting them in Frass) has a 30 day grace period and isn't irreversible until that time is up.

Feel free to ask for help or clarification if you aren't sure of anything- we're all still learning here.

Great advice. The correction was quite simple.
Thanks!

actually,
ladybirds have a massive migration from the east to the west during the winter. i know they go as far as the rockies, but im not really sure if they go as far to california. they might be native there of course. somebody else like Eric, or Jim can tell us better about these guys

This species isn't native, and I doubt they're migratory in that sense. I remember reading somewhere that many of the ladybugs sold for biological pest control (native species Hippodamia convergens) are gathered from wintering colonies on the eastern side of our main mountain range, the Sierra Nevada. They come east from the higher, colder elevations, and are genetically programmed to fly west in the spring- not a good return on your investment if you want them to stay in your yard!