{"id":7219,"date":"2008-09-30T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2008-09-30T05:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=7219"},"modified":"2017-06-24T12:10:55","modified_gmt":"2017-06-24T17:10:55","slug":"bevy-of-beetles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bevy of Beetles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Salutations, BugFans,<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s episode features a Bevy of Beetles. Beetles are in the order Coleoptera, which you Latin and Greek scholars know means sheath wings. Their pair of membranous, flying wings is covered at rest by a top second pair of wings (the <em>elytra<\/em>) that protects them, but because the elytra have to be held out to each side in flight, they fly awkwardly.<\/p>\n<h3>Long-horned Beetles<\/h3>\n<p>The elegant Long-horned beetles (family Cerambycidae) have antennae that may be twice as long as their body. The family includes many species with names like \u201cborer,\u201d (stump, root and bark, but not the infamous Emerald Ash Borer which resides in a different beetle family), \u201csawyer,\u201d \u201cpruner,\u201d and \u201cgirdler,\u201d so we know what they are up to in their spare time and why some species are so unpopular with the timber industry. For the same reasons, they are important players in Mother Nature\u2019s recycling program. The larvae of many species rummage around in trees and shrubs, living or dead, often leaving characteristic trails in the wood, under the bark. According to Kaufman, in the <em>Field Guide to Insects of North America<\/em>, others girdle a twig or small branch and lay an egg in the groove; when the grub hatches, it eats now-dying twig that its mama provided. Some long-horned beetles \u201cvocalize,\u201d producing a squeak made by friction when they nod their heads. The beetle above (who might possibly be <em>Centrodera decolorata<\/em>&mdash;many insects do not have common names) is about 1 \u00bd inches long, excluding its antennae.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\" alt=\"beetle-bevy-1\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Blister Beetle<\/h3>\n<p>The Bug Lady has photographed hundreds of insects and has never been bitten\/stung in the course of taking their portraits, but she won\u2019t touch this beauty, found on goldenrods during the month of August (and we\u2019ll discuss ants at a different time&#8230;). Blister beetles produce on their persons an irritating substance called <em>cantharadine<\/em>, once used as an aphrodisiac. If you touch them, you&#8217;ll get a dry, itchy blister that will last about a week. One identifying feature is the fact that their <em>elytra<\/em> (ee-lee&#8217;-tra), the hard, modified forewings that cover the softer, folding flying wings, are somewhat shorter than the abdomen.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-2.jpg\" alt=\"beetle-bevy-2\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-2.jpg 700w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-2-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Klamathweed Beetles<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the efforts of TV advertisers to sell you tranquilizers made of St. John\u2019s-wort, the plant is not welcome over much of its range. St. Johns-wort is a sun-loving, alien invasive plant that loves road edges, fields and pastureland. When cattle (and susceptible people) eat it, the incomplete metabolism of its pigment dots results in chemicals being deposited just under the skin layer. That causes the consumer to become extra sensitive to the sun\u2019s rays and to burn easily. Klamathweed beetles were originally released on western grazing lands (they seem to be moving east), and from what the BugLady has seen in her fields, they do an effective job on St. Johnswort. The BugLady, however, has reservations about the concept of introducing one foreigner to eat another foreigner, as in \u201cNo worries, Mate&mdash;when it finishes eating the (fill in the blank) it won\u2019t move on to anything else&#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-3.jpg\" alt=\"beetle-bevy-3\" width=\"500\" height=\"581\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-3-258x300.jpg 258w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Beetles are the largest order within the Class Insecta. Every fifth living thing (not every fifth INSECT, not every fifth ANIMAL \u2013 Every! Fifth! LIVING THING!) is a beetle.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>The BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beetles are in the Order Coleoptera, which you Latin and Greek scholars know means sheath wings.  Their pair of membranous, flying wings is covered at rest by a top second pair of wings (the <em>elytra<\/em>) that protects them, but because the elytra have to be held out to each side in flight, they fly awkwardly. In this BOTW we have three types; <strong>Long-horned<\/strong>, <strong>Blister<\/strong>, and <strong>Klamathweed<\/strong> beetles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3666,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-7219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bug-of-the-week","tag-beetles"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Field Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Bevy of Beetles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beetles are in the Order Coleoptera, which you Latin and Greek scholars know means sheath wings. Their pair of membranous, flying wings is covered at rest by a top second pair of wings (the elytra) that protects them, but because the elytra have to be held out to each side in flight, they fly awkwardly. In this BOTW we have three types; Long-horned, Blister, and Klamathweed beetles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Field Station\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"A Bevy of Beetles\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":552,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Beetles\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bug of the Week\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Bevy of Beetles - Field Station\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/bevy-of-beetles\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bug of the Week\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/category\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A Bevy of Beetles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\",\"name\":\"Field Station\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Field Station","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Bevy of Beetles","og_description":"Beetles are in the Order Coleoptera, which you Latin and Greek scholars know means sheath wings. Their pair of membranous, flying wings is covered at rest by a top second pair of wings (the elytra) that protects them, but because the elytra have to be held out to each side in flight, they fly awkwardly. In this BOTW we have three types; Long-horned, Blister, and Klamathweed beetles.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/","og_site_name":"Field Station","article_published_time":"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"A Bevy of Beetles","datePublished":"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/"},"wordCount":552,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg","keywords":["Beetles"],"articleSection":["Bug of the Week"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/","name":"A Bevy of Beetles - Field Station","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg","datePublished":"2008-09-30T05:00:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-24T17:10:55+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2017\/02\/beetle-bevy-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/bevy-of-beetles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bug of the Week","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/category\/bug-of-the-week\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A Bevy of Beetles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/","name":"Field Station","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1498324126:28"],"_edit_last":["28"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["8"],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:10:52\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-14 23:19:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7219"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8439,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7219\/revisions\/8439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}