Beetles and bugs

Oil beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) seen in large numbers in Ukraine in early May 2003:

And cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) seen in large numbers at the same time:

Russia and Ukraine had some interesting ladybirds. The first one is an "eyed" ladybird, the rest are called by the number of spots.

Ladybirds in Mongolia seemed to have "blobs" rather than spots:

And in Yangshou, China we saw a particularly big one, and in Yunnan a blobby one:

In Thailand we saw these:

 

From Russia, the only shield-bugs I've seen with stripes, it is a Graphosoma Italicum:

And other innocuous Russian beetles. The right-hand one is a groundbeetle C. nemoralis.

Merechamus cartor beetle with colossal 'horns' that flew up to us by a river and landed on my neck. Later we saw dozens of them, mating and fighting, there are more photos here.

Various beetles we saw in Yunnan, China:

Massive beetle we saw on our guesthouse veranda in Laos. The guesthouse owner saw it too and picked it up to demonstrate how it hissed and chopped up grasses with its mandibles. Tragically she then took it into the kitchen, roasted it over glowing charcoal for a minute, tore off the legs and head and offered us the abdomen to eat. It was full of eggs but didn't taste of much!

Beetle disguised as a dead leaf seen in Khao Sok, Thailand, it is a ground beetle of the genus Mormolyce:

Nice black and red beetle seen in Sai Yok National Park, Thailand:

Rhinocerous beetle, Chalcosoma atlas, seen in the Butterfly Farm, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia:

Other Cameron Highlands, Malaysia beetles and bugs:

Wildlife index

Beetles Butterflies and Moths Caterpillars Flies, including Dragonflies Grasshoppers and Crickets Other insects (Preying Mantis)

Insects Spiders Centipedes and Millipedes Mammals Birds Amphibians Reptiles Crustaceans Flowers Fungi