Which tumbling flower beetle? - Mordella

Moved

… Ron Hemberger, 6 August, 2010 - 11:43pm

maybe

another Mordella hubbsi from the red femur, but it's really tough to see enough to say with confidence

… Tim Moyer, 6 August, 2010 - 4:08pm

Thanks, Tim.

I have a terrible time getting these beetles to species. Last advice I got was to get shots of feet. Any other thing(s) you're looking for?

I've moved this one to genus. Let me know if that's inappropriate.

… Ron Hemberger, 6 August, 2010 - 10:42pm

actually, hind leg

specifically a lateral view of the hind tibia and tarsi. The antenna and palpi also help sometimes. But the best advice is find dorsal brightly patterned ones that make the ID easy for amatures like me! :)

But you're not alone with having few of these determined to species, esp. from this genus. Perhaps a real expert will visit some day and help sort out all these tough ones.

Keep shooting! We currently don't seem to get too many tumblers from the west coast.

… Tim Moyer, 7 August, 2010 - 8:07pm

Mostly black backs are what I'm seeing

There seems to be a resurgence of these beetles as of late. I'll keep after them and have a new flash that should help a bit. Knowing you're interested encourages me to shoot more.

Oh, one more thing. Should I keep posting to ID Request,or is family better for you?

… Ron Hemberger, 7 August, 2010 - 11:37pm

either works,

but if you know they are tumblers, the family page is where I check. Otherwise, someone will get them there. Feel free to e-mail me if you don't see any activity after a few days.

… Tim Moyer, 8 August, 2010 - 5:51am

Will do. One's on the way, shot before our discussion.

… Ron Hemberger, 8 August, 2010 - 12:55pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 21 July, 2010 - 6:08pm