Photo#858461 | | | Copyright © 2013 Itai Katz | |
Willow Beetle, lower Mackenzie River (Itai Katz,Tsiigehtchic, NWT) - Altica bimarginata at our fish camp on the Mackenzie River, up river from Tsiigehtchic., Northwest Territories, Canada August 15, 2013
At our fish camp on the Mackenzie River, a few KM upriver from Tsiigehtchic. We never seen these kinds of beetles before, hundreds of them were clustered together on some small willow plants (about 1 to 1.5 feet tall). The willows normally grow below the high water mark and are found along the shore. As time past it become clear they were feeding on the willow leaves as the plant became bare naked afterwards. The beetles were stationary on the same willow plant for many days, 10 days easy. We had a few days with high east wind and it seemed that the wind blew most of them away over time. Back in town we googled and identified the beetles as "blue willow beetles" however we know very little about them. Please provide us with updated information regarding these beetles. We are interested in knowing if they are new beetles in our area or we just never noticed them before.
Thanks, Itai
Images of this individual: tag all Contributed by Dr Suzanne Carriere on 24 October, 2013 - 9:57am Last updated 17 April, 2014 - 7:50am |