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Answer to the Monday Night Mystery

February 16, 2010 by myrmecos

I am impressed. Several of you* figured out the mystery behavior: reflex bleeding, a defensive response employed by some arthropods with especially nasty hemolymph to deter predators. A couple of you even pegged the identity of the mystery arthropod, a blister beetle in the genus Epicauta. Here’s the uncropped photo:

An Epicauta blister beetle reflex bleeds when grasped with forceps.

Five points each to Tim, Ainsley, Neil, and Dave. And, ten points each to Pete and TGIQ.

So. Um. Don’t spend them all in one place…

Posing on a mesquite flower.

*what’s up with all the guessers-of-mysteries being bloggers? Are bloggers just smarter?

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Posted in beetles, Blogging, fun, Nature | Tagged meloidae, reflex bleeding | 12 Comments

12 Responses

  1. on February 16, 2010 at 7:10 pm TGIQ

    Maybe just geekier 😛


    • on February 16, 2010 at 7:12 pm TGIQ

      P.S. That is SUCH A COOL BEETLE. I want one.


  2. on February 16, 2010 at 7:24 pm jtrager

    Well clearly I need to bone up on my blister beetles and their biology.


    • on February 16, 2010 at 7:41 pm myrmecos

      Don’t feel bad, James. It’s a trick photo (see my comment to Ainsley, below).


  3. on February 16, 2010 at 7:25 pm Pete Yeeles

    Yep, I agree TGIQ… proud to be a geek!


    • on February 16, 2010 at 7:41 pm myrmecos

      You’re the only non-blogger among the participants. What gives? Is Peteblog.com taken already?


      • on February 16, 2010 at 8:36 pm Pete Yeeles

        I’ve often thought about it, but the general standard of bloggery in the ento/bio fields is just so high it’s a little intimidating!

        Maybe one day….


  4. on February 16, 2010 at 7:27 pm Ainsley S

    So the single claw WAS a red herring! CURSES.


    • on February 16, 2010 at 7:39 pm myrmecos

      That’s exactly why I cropped the photo that way. It’s the wrong angle to see the split tarsal claws, too.


    • on February 16, 2010 at 7:45 pm TGIQ

      I totally went down that one-claw road too…but it ended up nowhere, so I figured it had to be a trick.

      Sneaky ant guy.


  5. on February 17, 2010 at 7:45 am Dave

    Oh well, it would be neat if there were a spider with reflexive bleeding, but at least you are one great arthropod photographer that doesn’t shoot jumping spiders.


  6. on February 18, 2010 at 11:39 pm Tom

    Same thing that happens to me when I’m grabbed with forceps



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