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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Elateroidea » Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae) » Chauliognathinae » Chauliognathini » Chauliognathus » Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus)
Photo#9747
Goldenrod Soldier Beetles and flies - Chauliognathus pensylvanicus - male - female
Copyright © 2005 Cotinis

Goldenrod Soldier Beetles and flies - Chauliognathus pensylvanicus - Male Female
Durham County, North Carolina, USA
October 8, 2004
On goldenrod, Solidago species. Notable for the flies that are hitching a ride on the elytra of the male. I wonder if they are parasites or are simply feeding on something (pollen? sloughing cuticle?). They seem to have their proboscises planted on the surface of the beetle's elytra. It is hard to tell what is going on, but I thought this observation might be of interest, and something to look for next fall.
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Contributed by Cotinis on 13 January, 2005 - 5:26pm

Neat
They definitely seem to be sucking something out. My guess would be ceratopogonids; I've seen them attacking blister beetles (an Epicauta species) before - the beetles were surrounded by a small cloud of the flies and waving their legs at them. Apparently this is a way for the flies to obtain the defensive chemical produced by the blister beetles for themselves. They also attack non-defended species (like us!) as well - I've seen a photo of one sucking blood from a dragonfly's wing vein before, but I can't recall if it was in the guide or not.

There's another photo of flies on another mating pair of this species in the guide: a pattern?
… Joel Kits, 13 January, 2005 - 8:33pm login or register to post comments

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