Beetle

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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gpmatthews
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Beetle

Post by gpmatthews »

A beetle from my garden. Ident would be welcome. The first image is a stack taken using a Canon Powershot S50 camera through one eyepiece of a Wild M8 microscope. The second is a stack of 36 images taken through my home-built macroscope (see http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=11366) with a Canon Powershot G9. Stacking used Zerene. The stacks were quite noisy. Currently I am better equipped for stacking microscopic objects - thundering great things the size of this beetle are a bit of a challenge!

Image

Image

In each case lighting was with an LED ringlight mounted on the underside of the objective lens surround, plus directional lighting from an LED microscope lamp. No diffuser used.

The specimen was very dirty and was cleaned by sonication in soapy water, scrubbing under the stereo microscope with more soapy water and rinsing with methylated spirit. Even so, there is still adhering material that could not be removed.
Graham

Though we lean upon the same balustrade, the colours of the mountain are different.
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NikonUser
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Post by NikonUser »

Looks like a Scarabaeidae, possibly an Onthophagus sp.
But I bet Rove Beetle will give you a definitive ID
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
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gpmatthews
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Post by gpmatthews »

- thanks for that. I'll certainly believe the genus. A quick search suggests O. similis, said to be widespread in England & Wales, although at 4 - 7 mm it is a little small. My specimen is 9 mm nose to tail. Other candidates found were O. coenobita at 6 - 9 mm, but with a curly horn, and O. nuchicornis at 6 - 9 mm, but with black head and pronotum and usually found at coastal locations. Any other suggestions welcome.

A useful reference I found was: http://www.amentsoc.org/publications/be ... y-2009.pdf

Here is a quick and dirty side elevation (taken at 02:00 on my way to bed, so rather hasty!)

Image
Graham

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