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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae) » Tenebrioninae » Bolitophagini » Bolitotherus » Forked Fungus Beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus)
Photo#788389
Beetle from a Rotting Tree - Bolitotherus cornutus - male
Copyright © 2013 Peter J. Crockett

Beetle from a Rotting Tree - Bolitotherus cornutus - Male
Morgan Hill State Forest, Cortland County, New York, USA
June 17, 2013
Size: 12mm
I found four of these tucked into the debris at the base of some woody bracket fungi on an old snag. When disturbed, they just tuck in and play dead. I had to wait hours for this guy to grip the leaf he was photographed on. How to get it to lift its head and extent the antlers, I can't figure out. They only move when I'm not looking. Maybe they aren't entirely healthy.

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Beetle from a Rotting Tree - Bolitotherus cornutus - male Beetle from a Rotting Tree - Bolitotherus cornutus Beetle from a Rotting Tree - Bolitotherus cornutus
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Contributed by Peter J. Crockett on 18 June, 2013 - 8:30am

perfectly healthy; they sit for hours or days w/o moving
nice series! the 'antlers' are rigid outgrowth of the exoskeleton; their shape and position cannot be changed.
the beast is very common in hard polypores.
Moved from ID Request.
… v belov, 18 June, 2013 - 8:52am login or register to post comments

 
Antlers
I'm glad they are healthy.

I can see his antlers tucked in under his head, but he won't stick them out for a better picture. Other pictures in the guide show antlers, so I'm jealous.

I've got one female in there and at night when I'm not looking, the males go over to her. I find them clinging to her back in the morning, head to tail. I wonder about the practicality of that.
… Peter J. Crockett, 18 June, 2013 - 9:43am login or register to post comments

 
confused... what part do you call 'antlers'?
… v belov, 18 June, 2013 - 10:24am login or register to post comments

 
Below his eyes
I mean his antennae. My bad.
… Peter J. Crockett, 18 June, 2013 - 12:31pm login or register to post comments

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