I found the coolest insect at Hasty last weekend. I'd seen another of these a few weeks ago and looked it up in my Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. It looked like a relative of the Spotted Sawyer, a longhorn beetle I'd seen up there several times before. With some help from blogging/Facebook friend Cindy Mead I eventually identified this beetle as a Balsam Fir Sawyer, Monochamus marmorator. Check out the horny protrusions around its neck. I would guess they would make it difficult to swallow this big fellow. Doesn't it kind of remind you of a studded collar?
I mentioned to Hap in New Hope that I had seen this cool insect and he told me that he'd once gotten a nasty bite from a longhorn beetle. When I zoomed in on its face I could see how that might happen. Look at the size of those pinchy mouth parts! It's probably a good thing I didn't know they could bite as I had held it for quite a long time. Thankfully, no bites.
We looked at each other for a long time. Click to big-ify this photo. The eyes are really amazing. Kindly disregard the fact that I really needed a manicure and some lotion.
Check out the camouflage colors. The colors looked metallic in the sun.
I took loads of photos of this accommodating beetle and felt we were forming a bond but when it pooped on me I knew it was time to say good-bye.
am-scra eetle-ba!
