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Denticollis denticornis
Photo#58608
Copyright © 2006
tom murray
click beetle -
Denticollis denticornis
Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
June 17, 2006
Contributed by
tom murray
on 19 June, 2006 - 7:53am
Last updated 29 October, 2006 - 9:22am
Moved
Marshall's book
(
1
)
says this is the only North American Denticollis species, and it's an exact match of his picture.
…
tom murray
, 29 October, 2006 - 9:22am
It's a perfect match for
Denticollis denticornis in Dillon but we can't find any images online :(
…
john and jane balaban
, 20 June, 2006 - 1:27am
What's up with google?
The denticollis images in bugguide have been around a good long while and should have come up in a google image search.
Oh. They do if you just search genus name :-)
…
Jim McClarin
, 20 June, 2006 - 5:34am
moved to genus page
I see Jim has one just like this in the guide. Thanks John and Jane.
…
tom murray
, 20 June, 2006 - 5:32am
Firefly mimic
Wow, that sure looks like a firefly--nifty.
…
Cotinis
, 19 June, 2006 - 9:26am
Mimicry
Does mimicking a firefly give this beetle any advantage, or is it just a coincidence?
…
tom murray
, 19 June, 2006 - 6:19pm
Toxic!
Lampyridae are extremely toxic. Eisner talks about this in
For the Love of Insects
(
1
)
, for instance. According to Eisner, he and his lab discoverd this about 1964 by feeding different insects to a captive Swainson's Thrush--the bird rejected them out of hand, or beak, so to speak. The toxic compounds were dubbed lucibufagins by Eisner's group, and they are steroids, similar to some toxins found in toads and also to cardiotoxic compounds found in plants (so-called cardenolides, such as oubain and digitalis). Eisner recounts that a captive Australian bearded dragon lizards were known to have died from eating just one
Photinus
.
Eisner's group also found that
Photuris
lacked the toxins unless they fed on
Photinus
--perhaps accounting for why
Photuris
females lure
Photinus
males with the flash response of a female
Photuris
. (Eisner calls these females
femme fatales
.)
…
Cotinis
, 20 June, 2006 - 6:45am
A second Wow:-)
Yes, Patrick, I just learned a bit more from your very well-worded text! Thanks much!
…
Eric R. Eaton
, 22 June, 2006 - 6:25pm
Wow!!
That explains why there are so many beetles, and a couple of moths I've seen that mimic fireflies. If I ever get stuck out in the woods, and have to eat bugs, I now know to leave the fireflies alone:-)
Thanks for the great explanation Patrick.
…
tom murray
, 21 June, 2006 - 4:41pm