The thick-limbed beetle.

The thick-limbed beetle. OK - so it's not the most imaginative name. However, I would point out that few beetles have the swollen femur found in this species. Whenever I find an insect worth photographing I follow the maxim put down by the pioneers of the old west, "Shoot first and ask questions later." Having adapted my methods to suit macro photography, the shooting is based upon the camera and the questions pertaining to the identification of species. In this case, I found evidence to suggest that this was, in fact, a thick-limbed beetle. It seems to belong to the long-horned beetles, a more glorious name for an insect in spite of the fact that the "horns" are actually a pair of antennae.

I have spent half an hour on the internet looking up this particular beetle to little avail. I found green ones, beetles with thickened hind limbs, and some which were composed of multiple colours. Nothing popped up regarding my particular species even though I tried numerous variations on name and description. I photographed the subject up in the town of Clearwater along the shores of Dutch Lake. There are a few websites that document BC insects, such as the e-Fauna BC site that can be reached here. I carefully plied my knowledge and photographic evidence towards discovering the identity of the anonymous Coleoptern but again came up empty.

I will submit my photo to the professionals at UBC to see if they can identify it. Until then I will just have to call it a "thick-limbed beetle". How unimaginative.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen