Recently a retired OARDC-Entomology staff member, Bill, brought in a mystery insect which he suspected might be a lady beetle. He found them aggregated on some logs near his home.
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| Specimen: Found aggregated on logs in NW Ohio |
Upon closer inspection of the beetle, the antennae looked too long and it was clear this was not a lady beetle. All we could tell Bill at the time was that this was not a lady beetle, but it was perhaps a mimic. With that limited information Bill researched and found the species name before members of the ALE lab even had a chance!
This species,
Endomychus biguttatus, is a member of the Handsome Fungus Beetle family (Endomychidae). It feeds on fungus which may explain why it was discovered on a log pile. Below is a much better image of this species, which clearly shows the long antennae and a pronotum without the spots which are normally present on lady beetles.
It is easy to see how this insect could be confused for a lady beetle, the color and shape of the wing covers are very similar to some lady beetle species, pictured below:
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| The Columbus Dispatch |
Great detective work Bill!
Love the graphic! Of course, I helped put it together for The Dispatch.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you check out the blog! If you want the graphic cited a bit more officially let me know.
ReplyDelete