Eclectic Perambulations in the Noosphere
“Some [U.S.] $8,000 worth of jewel scarabs are displayed for science, not sale. Heat and humidity during development may influence color: Some green species have a pink form and some silvers go gold.”
From “Jewel Scarabs,” February 2001, National Geographic magazine
"The locust borer beetle is native to North America. It attacks only black locust trees of the genus Robinia, which originally grew only in the Allegheny and Ozark mountain regions. Due to its ability to thrive in poor soils, the black locust has been widely used as a shade tree and in reclaiming land damaged by farming and strip mining. The locust borer beetle has extended its range as a result. It is now found over most of the U.S. and southern Canada. This is one magnificent insect - about 1" long, stately and impressive. I'd never seen one before I stumbled across this guy. The whole time I was shooting, I was saying, "What the hell is this thing!? What a COOL bug!" (Yes, I frequently talk to myself and my subjects when photographing them. Passersby must think me crazy).
Locust borer larvae tunnel into a tree's trunk and branches, weakening the tree and making it susceptible to wind breakage. The damage from borer tunneling and wind breakage often results in deformed trees or clumps of sprout growth."
"All that glitters is not gold. That metallic glint might be sunlight bouncing off a beetle's shell. The Chrysina aurigans [left] and Chrysina limbata [right] specimens shown here bear such an uncanny resemblance to polished nuggets of gold and silver it may be hard to believe that their exoskeletons are made of the same stuff—chitin—that covers drab cockroaches and crayfish."
