Meet the beetle

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, March 9, 2008 10:20 PM |

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Like God, I also have an inordinate fondness for beetles, especially when they are as shiny and dapper as this industrious fellow making his way up the trail to the Vanalden Cave in Tarzana, Calif. Link to full-size photo

Previously on Boing Boing:
• Vanalden Cave in Tarzana, CA
• Tarzan's tour guide to the San Fernando Valley

Previously on Mad Professor:
• Beetles devouring my figs

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Takuan , March 9, 2008 10:37 PM

what if it's the devil that likes beetles?

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#2 posted by Zak , March 9, 2008 10:41 PM

I'm no entomologist, I just have a penchant for bugs and massive compound names, but that looks like an especially handsome Darkling beetle of the Tenebrionidae.

They're neat!

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#3 posted by Shiron , March 9, 2008 10:43 PM

Hello! I am The Devil, and I simply adore beetles.

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#5 posted by Antinous , March 9, 2008 10:49 PM

Does flickr require an account just to view photos now? I'm used to the safe search screen, but now I can't get in at all.

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#6 posted by iyou , March 9, 2008 11:34 PM

so much like the beetle in my photo from Cape Town!!

http://homepage.mac.com/iyou/cape_town/PhotoAlbum73.html

(scroll down to the bottom of the page)

(sound of own horn being tooted)

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#7 posted by Cpt. Tim , March 10, 2008 12:09 AM

once two of the meal worms i feed to my leopard gecko survived long enough to become beetles. once i noticed their hideout under some gecko furniture I gave them a full pardon and released them. seemed the decent thing to do.

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#8 posted by Akratic Behavior , March 10, 2008 12:41 AM

I like dung beetles. They don't waste; they eat it! Badum-ching! I'll be here all week. Please try the steak...

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#9 posted by Zak , March 10, 2008 1:04 AM

Cpt. Tim: One time some friends with mealworm eating pets managed to lose one of the super-giant mealworms without noticing. Some time later I found a big black beetle trundling around my kitchen.

The super-giant worms aren't even supposed to be able to mature. The world needs more impossible mutants. I took it outside and let it fly away.

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#11 posted by zish Author Profile Page, March 10, 2008 5:25 AM

Beetles in my carpet
under my feet
they come out when they eat
Beetles in my carpet
under my feet
they come out when they eat
Beetles in my carpet
under my feet
they come out when they eat

Richard D. James would Agree.
/I think

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#12 posted by georgelazenby , March 10, 2008 5:53 AM

Hello Coelocnemis californicus!

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#13 posted by tracyrtwyman , March 10, 2008 6:12 AM

What else do you and God have in common?

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#15 posted by Moon , March 10, 2008 6:15 AM

It looks like you kicked sand on him like some beach bully.

/I'll bet he's going to the comic store to buy tiny beetle comics just for the "Become a He-Beetle" ads.

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#16 posted by shmengie , March 10, 2008 7:17 AM

omfg, the vanalden cave! as a teen, me and my friends did SO MANY drugs up there. careful not to fall through that big-ass, dangerous hole in the top!

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#17 posted by johannm Author Profile Page, March 10, 2008 9:56 AM

Sometimes you bide your time, waiting for the right moment to post your beetle photo!

Here's mine, and I would love to have some entomologist identify it for me, it was a beautiful licorice loaf of bread painted by a velvet artist.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johannm123/Beetle/photo#5176156216584137650

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#18 posted by Dustin Driver , March 10, 2008 10:30 AM

Johannm, that's insane.

check this out:

http://www.whatsthatbug.com

WTB

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#19 posted by johannm Author Profile Page, March 10, 2008 10:57 AM

Hey thanks for the reference! It's a Spanish Blister Beetle!

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#20 posted by NikFromNYC , March 10, 2008 5:15 PM

Ladybugs are beatles. So are both German (small) and American (huge) cockroaches. My two NYC cats means that we never see live roaches 'round here, but cats being so proud, they drop dead things in their path, thus I praise the invention of the Dyson rechargeable hand-held vacuum cleaner. No, wait, then the roach is still there in the cyclonic bag-free collector.

Ugh, no, I actually praise box-packing tape and garbage men ("sanitation engineers"). It's funny since down in our doorman lobby, there is an extermination sign-up list, and roaches seem to infest certain apartments over and over again, like recurrent cancer.

Mice are different. Rats can't climb up on the upper floors of buildings in Manhattan, but mice can and do. Here is a video of my black cat eating one, leaving a broken tail behind. Oh thank god, I can't find the video, just a still which leaves out how she licked it for an hour before eating it in one minutes, from head to tail:
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i14/SnickSnack/Cats/?action=view¤t=LuluMouse.jpg

But what about the beetles that live in our eyebrows, keeping them free of dandruff?
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn10184/dn10184-1_500.jpg

Are they cool too?

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