David and Goliath - Laura Gillis

Ink and watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal

Are you ready to rummmmmmmbbbbbllllllee??!!

In lower left corner, we have the challenger, the little, cute, sorta-fuzzy Checkered Beetle measuring only 3/4 of an inch long.

And in upper right corner, towering above the competition, we have the big honkin’, root boring, Pironus Beetle, measuring a whopping 1-3/4 inches (not including the feathery antenna).

Ding! There’s the bell.

I never would have guessed it, but in my research to identify these two, I discovered that the Checkered Beetle attacks and eats the Pironus beetle at all stages of their life cycle. Eggs, larvae and adult.

This is a good thing because the big beetle is a root borer and the larval stage of this beetle can cause much damage and grief to hardwood trees.

I found both of these beetles within hours of each other. The Checkered Beetle was in the front yard, but the Pironus had come into the garage and was lying in front of the washer with his feet up in the air.

He was down for the count.

Ding! We have a winner!

The Caterpillar Hunter - Laura Gillis

These are one of my favorite ground beetles. The iridescent colors are just beautiful and these look like big jewels on spindly legs. (Maybe one of these days I will figure out how to paint those colors.)

I wonder if these guys like owlet moth caterpillars? I was working out in the shop fairly late last night and when I quit and looked around, the shop was swarming with hundreds of moths! When the eggs from those moths hatch it should be a grand buffet for the Caterpillar Hunters!


Ink & watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal

Tree full of Stag Beetles

Tree full of Stag Beetles, a photo by apple-pine on Flickr.

While taking a stroll in the memorial park (in the middle of the city) I found another female stag beetle and started sketching ;) but in a minute kids were screaming "here! It's bigger, it has horns!" and I saw this oak tree - full of stag beetles of all sizes!

While taking a stroll in the memorial park (in the middle of the city) I found another female stag beetle and started sketching ;) but in a minute kids were screaming "here! It's bigger, it has horns!" and I saw this oak tree - full of stag beetles of all sizes! They were not too happy and I learned that squirt distance is pretty big - but it was worth it ;)

Drawing female Stag Beetle

Drawing female Stag Beetle, a photo by apple-pine on Flickr.

Lucanus cervus - female. We found one and after quick drawing session decided to deposit this wonderful subject far away from the road. On the way back we found a few more - marching towards the road ;)

Snow Bugs - Laura Gillis

While stuck in the house waiting for the ice and snow to thaw I got a few bugs done. This weather is making me anxious for spring and the first buzzings of insect life. I know, I will be regretting that statement when the mosquitoes start up but I am just really ready to get out for a while.

First is the Green June Beetle -- a pretty little stout-bodied beetle.

Next, I have two unidentified beetles. The first one I am fairly sure is in the Click Beetle group but the second one I haven’t found yet. He has pinchers up front and an extremely tough shell. (He was a challenge to get the pin through the thorax.) I don’t think he is an Iron Clad Beetle though.

This little Straight-Lanced Meadow Katydid is just tiny and cute... Only three quarters of an inch long from her nose to the tip of her lance. Earlier I had sketched and posted an older adult that was an inch longer but this one was just so cute I had to include her also.

And then there is the big honkin’ Sphinx Moth. 

I worked on this guy for several days and I never did get it to where it does justice to the real thing. I haven’t identified this one with the magenta spots yet but when I get to some hi-speed internet I plan to do some research on these. This was a beautiful moth -- the heavy body is 2.5 inches long and the resting wings are almost three inches wide. When I see these feeding on flowers I almost always think I have a hummingbird at first!

I hope you and yours are all safe and warm and riding out these winter storms!

All are ink & watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal

Locust Borer - Laura Gillis

I like the “longhorn” beetles or wood borers – Their markings are usually so pretty and I love the “horns.” This guy doesn’t have the really long antenna but he is still pretty. At first glance he reminds me of a Yellow Jacket Wasp.

Ink & watercolor

Spotted Cucumber Beetle- Laura Gillis

Today I have a Spotted Cucumber Beetle. These are pretty common little beetles around here and I see them in all kinds of flowers. But, last fall I went out to get in the car to go to work and these little guys were all over the car. A few years ago when I was driving the little yellow VW Beetle I had hummingbirds come up to the tail lights and check things out and lots of things were attracted to the color. Now I am driving a white Impala... I don’t know what the beetles were so interested in that day -- maybe they just wanted to carpool. ha!

Ink & Watercolor

The Big Honkin' Beetle - Laura Gillis

I haven’t done an insect in a while and this big beetle has been begging me to sketch him for a month or two now. My dear, sweet husband found this big honkin’ beetle and brought it to me back in August and I am just now getting around to sketching him into the Bug Journal. (Believe me, I know just how lucky I am to have a man who will bring me bugs to sketch!)

I had trouble finding this beetle in my books so I turned to the internet... and, after much testing of my patience on my slower-than-Christmas dial-up connection, I have narrowed it down to one of the large longhorn beetles: Order Coleoptera; Family Cerambycidae, sub-family, Prioninae.

He really is a big beetle too -- 55 mm long and 18 mm wide! (That is almost 2.25 inches long and .75 inches wide for us non-scientific American folks.) And with large wicked-looking mandibles on the front of this guy I think a lot of folks might head the other way when they meet him.

It took longer to identify the beetle than it did to sketch it. Ha! But I do feel so much better now knowing what it is.

Ink & watercolor in the Moleskine watercolor journal

Trapped

Those little buggers are gross and gluttonous!! Sandy (Myfiddlestix)

Back to the Bugs - Laura Gillis

I am back to the bugs again and with some really interesting finds.

You can't really tell it here but this was a huge weevil. He was right at 1/2 inch long. I was under the Pecan trees when he landed on my shoulder so I guess he was after the new pecans that are showing up on the trees.

The finished page 22.

All are ink & watercolor in the Moleskine watercolor journal.

Nature's Cleaning Crews

I always appreciate the work of nature's cleaning crews--this carrion beetle on our deck must have been busy nearby; he didn't stay long. He's of the Family Silphidae,
Necrophilia americana, as near as I could tell.

This species can have ivory, yellow, orange or red on the pronotum (though usually yellow), with the black spot. Amazing creatures, they can find dead animals to feed on from a mile and a half away with powerful olfactory nerves. I couldn't smell a thing (happily!)

Don't Bug me! ~ Sigrid Frensen

I don't feel like painting crocusses and snowdrops now. I wanted to do something colourful yet not a big project.... A friend of mine sugested to make some insects. I never did that before. Not seriously anyway. So I thought I'd try painting some bugs with watercolours. It didn't work out at all. So, instead of throwing it in the bin I saved it with my coloured pencils. Here's my first little bug:

This is Chrysolina fastuosa. In normal English: the Dead Nettle Leaf Beetle. It's a very common beetle in the Netherlands and oh so pretty. It was hard to draw the metalic shine and the little dimples on the shield. I must add that this image is huge compared to the original drawing. The drawing is made realsize (=very small = 1,5 cm = about 0,6") So in this scan it might seem that it has got hairs, in the small drawing it just has little dimples :))

I liked this so much I decided to do another bug today. A bigger one and maybe one of my favourites. Not because it's so beautiful (besides it's hairdo it really isn't that pretty) but because I always look forward to seeing the first in my garden. Always in May.

It's the May Beetle or Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha). I made mine 3 cm (a bit over 1 inch) tall (they can be a bit bigger though). Not very happy with the texture on the brown shields. It looks too smooth... and it really is not. Never mind.... I had fun and there is a lot more white paper to be filled with creepy crawlers...

Christmas beetles - Alissa Duke

It is Christmas time and one of the things I associate with this time of the year is Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus) . I have just discovered that they are Australian. I had wondered what people in other countries would have called them, as they are a summer beetle, and therefore wouldn't be around at Christmas. Now I know.






They used to fly in the house if you left the windows open on a hot summer night. I haven't seen any around in years, but that may be because I live in a different part of the country now. I drew these at the Australian Museum.

Back to the Bugs - Laura Gillis

Finally got back to doing some insect sketches and finished off page 20 in the bug journal.

All are ink with watercolor in the Moleskine watercolor journal

Dainty Sulphur by Laura GIllis

Back to the bugs.... a Dainty Sulphur butterfly finishes off page 19 of the Bug Journal.

Ink & Watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal

Dragonfly & weevil - Laura Gillis

I have a couple of bugs today... a Twelve Spotted Skimmer dragonfly and a Boll Weevil. The boll weevil is pretty surprising since they started the Boll Weevil Eradication Project in our area a few years ago and we're not supposed to have those any more. We don't have any cotton fields very close to us so I am not sure how it got to our house. I was in cotton country on the weekend and maybe it hitched a ride in my car or something like that... who knows?

I really don't think the BW Eradication Project is a good thing. When they spray to eradicate the weevils, what other beneficial insects are they killing at the same time? Will we wake up in 50 years and have to start re-introducing weevils like we have had to do with the wolves? Okay, that might be an extreme example but I do fear that we are killing off other insects that have benefits that we don't know about yet. But, they are probably working on another new chemical to spray that will make up for the unknown... (sorry, didn't mean to get on my soap box!)

It's a tough argument when you live in a family of cotton farmers but maybe they will be out farming and not reading my blog. ha!

Ink & Watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal

Bug Journal - Page 18

Three more bugs finished off page 18 of the Bug Journal.

All are ink & watercolor in the Moleskine Watercolor Journal.

We have at least 2 kinds of blister beetles around here. Most of the time I see the gray version but this is a pretty little striped version. This is supposed to be the bad one... not only can it cause a blister, but I was told that if these get in your hay and a horse eats one it can kill the horse.

This was a smaller ground beetle but he still has those wicked pinchers on the front.

These little beetles mimic the velvet ants (or maybe vice-versa).

The finished page.

Two more summer bugs

I have two more summer bugs.... a Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid and the Green June Beetle. Both are ink & watercolor in the Moleskine watercolor journal.

Stag Beetle Visitor

This big guy wandered into the house under the back door last night, and captured the attention of two of our cats! Naturally, I rescued him and had to sketch him before I released him again...

The two pincers don't have much strength in them--he couldn't hurt you, but he WAS impressive, at about 1-1/2" long! When threatened, the male--which this was--rears up on his back legs and waves his pincers and antennae...pretty cool! He looked even larger like that, obviously his plan.



Happily, I had my Peterson's Field Guide to Beetles at hand and was able to ID him! The one I found was a bit longer and more streamlined than the one shown in the book, but the family resemblance was obvious...Family Lucanidae, I mean...

Bug Journal Page 16

Here is page 16 of the Moleskine Bug Journal. The bark gnawing beetle and the grasshopper finished off the page. 

The bark gnawing beetle was a pretty interesting find... he had fallen into the dog's watering bowl on the patio and when I fished him out, he latched on to the plastic box top with those jaws. I was sure glad that it was the box top and not my finger! I had trouble getting him to release. It is amazing how much power is in such a little thing.

Ink & watercolor in the Moleskine watercolor journal.