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Photo#81498
New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me)

New Smallest Beetle !!! (for bugguide, me)
Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA
October 4, 2006
Size: about 0.5 mm

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New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me) New Smallest Beetle !!!    (for bugguide, me)

Wings
Are they just filaments connected to a central stalk? How are they expanded when the beetle metamorphoses? Are there veins?

 
Good questions
Yes, the wings are composed of a central jointed stalk with filaments radiating outward. I don't know if these filaments have subfilaments or if they have a cross section that traps air in one direction and slips through the air in the other direction. Although I don't know, I think there would have to be veins of some type so the wings could fill out upon eclosing. I think there is some speculation that featherwings don't actually fly but drift on the breeze like a dandylion seed. I don't subscribe to that notion -- yet anyway.

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