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Photo#745824
Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta

Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta
Southeast of Adel, Lake County, Oregon, USA
July 18, 2012
I found this meloid just as it is seen above, on the seat of my vehicle. It was injured (missing left fore-tarsus, right hind-leg). I'm guessing it had inadvertently "hitch-hiked" on my backpack as I returned from roaming the sandy alkali basin pictured below:



The basin was bounded by volcanic mesas and full of Sarcobatus vermiculatus (aka "greasewood").

The Epicauta here was covered with pale, appressed, setae...interrupted with small maculae on the elytra, but not on the prothorax and head. There were also short, densely "fan-like" clusters of backward-pointing white setae along the anterior edges of the eyes...those setae were short, stiff, and flat. I'm guessing this is in the Epicauta maculata group. The closest matches I could find in the guide were the posts below of E. "apache or jeffersi" and E. normalis:



I also found a large asilid fly feeding on the same species of Epicauta while exploring the basin habitat pictured above. See the thumb below:



As usual...any comments, corrections, or confirmation on the ID of the meloid here will be greatly appreciated.

Images of this individual: tag all
Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta Maculate Epicauta from Oregon Desert - Epicauta

Epicauta normalis or E. ventralis --det. J.D. Pinto
"not always easy to tell, esp. those from NW."

Moved from Epicauta.

 
Much Appreciated
Thanks =v=, to both you and Dr. Pinto, for narrowing down the ID here.

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