28 January 2012

Beetles


This beetle from Belize, unidentified at the source, has truly remarkable antennae (via Petslady and Neatorama).  I found another impressive one in Wikipedia:


I presume the structures serve the same purpose they do in butterflies and moths - to capture and sense pheromone molecules - but I don't know that for sure.  In any case, they're cool to look at.

p.s. - why is an overhanging, prominent brow (like a Neanderthal) called a "beetle brow?"   (I don't know)

2 comments:

  1. Have you been to the May Museum in Colorado Springs? You post wonderful photos of insects regularly and the museum's sole focus is entomology. Apparently the man did not want his vast collection to go a more famous museum because of the low humidity that is present in Colorado.

    http://www.maymuseum-camp-rvpark.com/natural_history.htm

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  2. I have not seen it. It does look interesting.

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