Del Puerto Canyon N15 - Brachinus mexicanus

impressive quality indeed... gets you a species name

i must learn how to do that...

Moved from Bombardier Beetle.

… v belov, 13 September, 2018 - 6:50am

Nice!

Awesome, thanks!

… Dustin Lofland, 13 September, 2018 - 9:30am

actually, the venter here is lighter than in most mexicanus i've seen, but the size is too big for the otherwise similar pallidus

… v belov, 22 November, 2018 - 3:28pm

I'm curious how you got such good images

photographing down barrel of scope. I use an inexpensive Kodak camera held manually over eyepiece to get barely adequate beetle images. Likely you are doing something more elaborate.

… Peter W. Messer, 2 May, 2018 - 3:31pm

Hah, thanks! Yeah, I started

Hah, thanks! Yeah, I started using my cell phone as they have nice chips and no lens. But holding it in just the right spot is an art form to say the least. Jerry Wilson suggested I try a universal cell phone mount he found on Amazon for about $12. Believe it or not with a little practice you can manage some decent images. With my gear a 5-6mm beetle is the sweet spot for best complete beetle image.

… Dustin Lofland, 2 May, 2018 - 5:07pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Curt Harden, 2 May, 2018 - 11:30am

Brachinus sp.

Bombardier Beetle

… Bruce Tilden, 30 April, 2018 - 6:58pm

Yup, I'm thinking it's a memb

Thanks, I'm thinking it's a member of the fumans group. Possibly cyanipennis, favicollis, or fumans... But they are pretty hard to ID.

… Dustin Lofland, 1 May, 2018 - 12:41pm

You'll have to run it through Erwin's Key

PDF here
Several couplets rely on presence/absence of tiny hairs and other features that are hard to capture in images.
I tried keying from the photos, but couldn't see the setae well enough to get very far.

… Curt Harden, 1 May, 2018 - 5:57pm

Thanks, when I get a chance I

Thanks, when I get a chance I'll take a stab at keying it out!

… Dustin Lofland, 2 May, 2018 - 5:09pm