Friday Beetle Blogging: Notoxus flower beetle

November 27, 2009 by myrmecos

Notoxus desertus – Antlike Flower Beetle
Pyramid Lake, Nevada

This furry little beetle comes with its own sun visor, a horn-like structure that projects over the head from the pronotum. I photographed this Notoxus along the shores of Pyramid Lake where it was feeding on pollen.

Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash

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Posted in beetles, Nature | Tagged anthicidae, coleoptera, notoxus, Photography | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on November 27, 2009 at 11:12 am Kai

Yay, Notoxis!
on November 27, 2009 at 11:25 am Rick Lieder

Very nice, Alex, hadn’t seen a Notoxus before.
- on November 27, 2009 at 11:46 am myrmecos
  
  They’re easy to overlook. As their name implies, antlike flower beetles are ant-sized and generally inconspicuous. They aren’t uncommon, though, and often appear at blacklights.
on November 27, 2009 at 11:26 am Warren

Are the horns for male battles?
- on November 27, 2009 at 11:50 am myrmecos
  
  That’s a good question. I have no idea- it seems very little is known about anthicids in general.
on November 28, 2009 at 5:30 am jason

Beautiful shot! What a handsome (if not delicately hirsute) insect.
on November 29, 2009 at 8:27 pm dorit

Way cuter than an ant!
on December 4, 2009 at 7:24 am Claire

I’m an entomologist (ret.) and artist. I love this little guy. I did a pen & ink of one, years ago, spending many, many hours with one eye in a microscope!