Hooks to hold onto spines

Click for greater clarity, especially in the small hairs.

Seven months ago today, on March 13, we joined a group of native plant people at Kathy Comer’s property out in the country north of Austin. One thing that Eve found for me to photograph was this hairy insect, which I take to be a beetle because it has the same kind of recurved hooks at the ends of its legs that I’ve observed on other insects that are undoubtedly beetles. This one was hanging from the spine of a prickly pear cactus, and although at first I thought the insect was dead, I changed my mind because dead things don’t move around of their own accord, as this little creature soon started doing.

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UPDATE: Thanks to entomologist Mike Quinn for confirming that this is a beetle. He said that it’s a scarab of the June bug variety. He also provided a link to the Travis County Beetle Survey, where you can scroll down to the pictures of June bugs.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman