The Backyard Arthropod Project

A few weeks ago, I posted pictures of a predatory beetle, and mentioned that I’d like to get a picture of the larva of that beetle, because they were pretty wicked-looking[1]. Well, here’s a nice example, which I found crawling across the kitchen floor[2]. Correction: this is evidently some type of carrion beetle (see comment from “Anthony” below). The small squares on the grid are 1 mm, so this larva is close to 2 cm long.

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This week, we have another one that can be positively identified down to the species. It is an Indian Meal Moth, Plodia interpunctella. These are commonly referred to as a “pantry pest”, and we found this one (surprise, surprise!) in the pantry. They came in to the house originally in some infested birdseed from WalMart, and they’ve been around at a low level ever since. They feed on dry grains, flour, and similar materials.

There are two photos here, because of focusing issues with my setup for small items. The first one has the head in focus, while the second is focused on the trailing edge of the wings.

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So, what is this all about anyway? Here’s the deal: We own 9 acres of property, and I’m going to try to document every macroscopic arthropod I can find on it. This includes insects, spiders, other arachnids, crustaceans, and pretty much anything I find that has an exoskeleton. The plan is to post at least one species every week, with photographs and a description both of how I found it and what I think it is. I expect this project to take some years, especially if I can manage to photograph all the eensy little guys that live in the leaf litter. So, in the spirit of having to start somewhere, let’s begin with this one:

Continue reading ‘The Backyard Arthropod Project’ »