My little beetle.

Posted on 13 Oct, 2008 22 comments

Like every Monday we take the dogs for a walk along the beach. Even today, when it was raining here, because I knew on the beach it is always sunny. The coast is clear, so to speak. Halfway we let the dogs out at what we call “poop park”, so they can go to the toilet, otherwise it is too long a wait for them. It takes the best part of 45 mins to get to the beach. Today wasn’t my day…if something goes wrong, at least 3 things go wrong! The worst thing was that I had forgotten my camera and I must remember to take it next week. In the park there were so many spring surprises I would like to share with you, so please be patient. The other thing was trivial, like the CD stacker played up instead of playing music, but I can get over that one.
And the third thing was my little beetle.
We have been going to the beach about 60 times now and only once did I see this beetle before. As I forgot my camera you will have to take the previously taken picture for it for now. I saw him again today. Of course it must have been a relative of him, this one didn’t remember me, lol. As there was a real strong headwind on our way back, I saw this green little thing roll along the beach. I have good eyes for little things on the sand, and I immediately saw this struggling beetle. Todays beetle was even prettier than his rellie, it had this irridescent pinkish glow on it as well as the brilliant Jade colouring. I picked him up and said hello. I called hubby closer by for a look. I had the beetle perched on my left index finger and he just sat there, clamping his little sharp feet onto my finger, whilst his little frail ovally longish wings flappped with great effort in that wind. These wings looked greyish brown, were so thin, they wouldn’t have stood a chance to fly the heavy beetle any lenght of distance. I felt sorry for him. He just sat there, with this pathatic look on his face whilst the storm played havoc with his little wings. He would not take off. I decided to land him in the groundcovers on the beach’s verge. At least he would be safe there. Perhaps one more try, I flicked him off my finger, but the poor thing just tumbled to the ground. That was it. I picked him up again, waiting for a revenge and those little claws look vicious, so I was alert. He did nothing, sat on my finger again, clamping on as before. “OK, you’ll go to the greeneries of the beach, perhaps you can find shelter there”, I said to him and walked him higher up and posted him in a good looking spot. Silly sad lonely little thing, I thought and I bade him farewell. I wonder if any of his mates would have met up with him.
You know, up to this date I do not know what his name is. I once saw him ( a dried one unfortunately, dead I mean ) in a tourist information place on the Tablelands. I wrote down the name, but I lost the little scrap of paper. I have been writing to several people about rainforest beetles, but no one knows this fella. I shall now send the picture to that tourist information place in Malanda. All they have to do is read the sign underneath the display and bob is your uncle. Perhaps I call him Bob, lol.
Funny, how you can keep thinking about a little creature like that all day long. It intruiges me and I just wanted to tell you about this little adventure I had today.

Comments

Terratoonie

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small :o)

Lovely blog, Marguerite. Thank you.

13 Oct, 2008

Amy

Such a brilliant green , Look out for him next time Marquerite , I will call him Bob !

13 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

LOL Amy, I do hope I will meet him again. Thanks for the comments ladies!

13 Oct, 2008

Irish

Bob has fantastic colouring, hopefully you dont have to wait to long to find out his true name

13 Oct, 2008

Bonkersbon

What a fine looking beetle hes lovely.Jacque has some pearls- I have a golden spider you have an emerald beetle and Spritz is a diamond so quite a jewellery collection!

13 Oct, 2008

Poaannua

Marguerite that is a lovely story, a lovely Beetle and a lovely photo.

13 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Thank you all for reading this blog. Bonkersbon, you have a nice way of noticing things. I will let you know in time what this beetle is really called.

14 Oct, 2008

Blodyn

I hope you find him again one day. He seemed to like you.

14 Oct, 2008

Bonkersbon

Hi Margeurite his case looks like that of a scarab beetle - so typed in green australian beetles in google and went to images rather than results.

You ll see a few green beetles on top row.The images arent too clear and some look more relevant than others but his little feelers look like antlers the case and colour fit and they are found in Queensland. Apparently love Ash trees does this fit? From what I could see he may be a green scarab beetle - what do you think?

14 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Hi Bonkersbon, I think you are so close, yet the one I found here has a ribbed shield ( I don't know the correct name for it ), and my beetle is very smooth and shiny.
http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/system/c_980.htm
Have a look at that pic.
It is not the green Christmas beetle, which is also a scarab. There are many species in that family too, to make things easier. There are no Ash trees along the beach there.

14 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

I have just posted an email to the Tourist Information, as they have one of those beetles on their display. I will let you know what their answer is.

14 Oct, 2008

Gardengnome

And just like that the whole world (of GOY) is in suspense waiting, and wanting to find out about a little green beetle. Somehow, I think he knows how "famous" he is. Great blog Marguerite, but from you we expect nothing less!! Thanks for sharing your talent.

14 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Haha Gardengnome, you make me blush a bit! Still no answer today from the experts.

15 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Well, wait for this:
My Bob beetle has a beautiful name:

Ischiopsopha wallacei yorkiana
or
Flower scarab.
Family: Scarabaeidae, Genus: Ischiopsopha, Species: wallacei, Subspecies: yorkiana.

Yorkiana is named after the York Peninsula where it was seen near Cooktown. Location Cairns is also a place which they inhabit. He wasn't far from home.

So Bonkersbon, he is a distant cousin from your green beetle.

15 Oct, 2008

Harli

I enjoyed your blog about your little friend. I'm not surprised you haven't forgotten him. Everything has a purpose and the little beetle has his link in the circle that benefits us all. While we all feel insignificant sometimes and like 1 grain in a sea of sand, but without each little grain, it wouldn't be the same. So each of us is important to complete the circle.

15 Oct, 2008

Terratoonie

Wow. What a big name for a tiny beetle.

It's good to know that next time you see Bob, you can give him all that extra information.

York connection. BB will approve. :o)

Marguerite ~ brilliant blog.

15 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Hi Harli, you have a very philosophical approach to my blog, I like that. I know everything has a purpose, but I tend not to dwell on these matters. I just enjoy beauty, especially in nature around me. That gives me a happy feeling, which to me, is the most important thing to well being.

15 Oct, 2008

Bonkersbon

Well Marguerite he was green , a scarab beetle and lives in York near Cookstown .Might well be a distant cousin.

Thanks for the latin name - already have trouble with latin names for plants so guess I ll stick to Flower scarab .Ischio isnt that something to do with fish?

Very pretty and will add him to my jewellery collection.Thanks for info .

15 Oct, 2008

Delonix1

Marguerite,

Your green beetle resembles our common green June beetle here. During the summer there's thousands of June Beetles flying around. They are pollinators.

16 Oct, 2008

Skippy5869

Yeah, our June bugs must have poor eyesight, they tend to fly right into you, scares the kids....maybe, just maybe they are in cahoots with Newfie's alien bug...

16 Oct, 2008

Delonix1

Skippy,

I think you're correct. I've had them fly into my face many times. It can hurt! I think they don't see nor fly well.

17 Oct, 2008

Marguerite

Well, they must fly well, yet they are so small, that they get carried away in the wind. As I said Delonix, this is only the second one I have seen in over a year. It's not that they are very common nor abundant.http://essig.berkeley.edu/endins/barbata.htm
I found your beetle there, but it seems it is an endangered species. I have googled the images of the Californian June beetle and found there are green as well as striped species amongst them. Yes, they all are from the same family.
But.....I still like my beetle best ( LOL ).

17 Oct, 2008

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