I consulted my father, an OM user and an entomologist at the
University of New Hampshire. He suggested that the beetle could very
well be covered in fungus. However, he also suggested that it could be
covered in waxy filaments produced by planthopper insects. He said
that ladybird beetles are predators, and the beetle might have crawled
on a plant covered in the filaments, looking for prey (aphids, or the
larvae or eggs of other insects).
Cheers,
Robert Swier
Toronto
On 8/6/06, Martyn Smoothy <mds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Not quite succumbed, at least at the time I took the photo. It was much less
> lively than the first one though - which moved surprisingly fast, not at all
> easy keeping it in focus (as is obvious from the pics). Thanks for the info.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx]On
> Behalf Of Dean Hansen
> Sent: 06 August 2006 16:49
> To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [OM] any entomologist?
>
>
> Martyn recently posted several shots of two ladybird beetles, one of
> which "appears to be covered in fungus," and he asked if there were "any
> entomologists among us who can provide a diagnosis?" I guess I'm the OM
> List's resident entomologist, so I'll try to add a bit.
> I've seen numerous examples of insects killed by fungus infections;
> unfortunately, I've never tried photographing one. Sometimes they will
> look similar to the ladybird beetle in the last of Martyn's shots, that
> is, covered with fibers or strands. Or they may simply be dead, with no
> external evidence of fungi. I remember one dead grasshopper perched on
> a grass stem--it had a single long, curved fungal fruiting body emerging
> from its head which looked much like the flexible ray gun that emerged
> from the aliens' space ship in the '50s movie War of the Worlds.
> I tried Google Images with "fungal diseases of insects" and came up
> with: http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/charnleylecture.html
> The ladybird beetle in Martyn's last shot is a little tough to
> call--it almost looks like it walked through fine dust. It's either
> covered with dust or succumbed to a fungal disease.
> Dean
>
> ==============================================
> List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
> List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
> ==============================================
>
>
>
> ==============================================
> List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
> List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
> ==============================================
>
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|