Entomology - 2

Lat: 47.65461893881919, Lon: -122.30878036466777
Day, 2012
5/3/12
1:30-3:30

Also today we observed a few insects under the microscope and drew them. I observed a Scarabaeidae beetle, Nymphalidae butterfly, and a Lady Beetle.

The scarabaeidae beetle was only about maybe 1/3 of an inch. It had a shiny green head and thorax and a brown abdomen and tiny black legs. Upon looking under the microscope I could see a lot more. The beetle was covered in a thin layer of tiny white hairs and actually appeared slightly fuzzy under the microscope.

The second insect I observed was the Nymphalidae butterfly. This butterfly was really beautiful. It had a light orange/brown head, thorax, and body with multicolored fore- and hind wings. The light orange/brown color extended outward to the fore wings, followed by a black line and then oval shapes of white. These white ovals were followed by another black line, a more rusty orange/brown line, and then sequential black and white lines. This pattern was similar for the hind wings but the white ovals were connected and the bold black lines seen on the fore wings were more like dots than lines. However, they still had sequential black and white lines near the wing’s edges; they were just a bit thinner. An interesting thing about this butterfly was that when I turned it over, the colors on its wings were much duller. It was a lot whiter underneath with orange and white and light brown colors instead of the bright and vibrant colors seen on top. This could be because most species see them from above when the butterfly is in flight, or from the side when it’s landed on something.

The last insect I observed was the Lady Beetle. This was just a common red and black lady bug. It had a mostly black head and black abdomen under the elytra and wings. It also had the classic shiny red elytra with black spots however this particular lady beetle had an orange tint to it. This was the insect I had the least time with but I couldn’t really see a whole lot of difference when I looked at it under the microscope versus just looking at it with the naked eye.

Species List:
Scarabaeidae beetle
Nymphalidae butterfly
Lady Beetle

Posted on June 1, 2012 08:53 PM by lisad22