I found this ground beetle, which I'm pretty sure is Abax paralellopipedus, in woodland beside Shittlehope burn in Stanhope, Weardale this morning.
It's a common species but what's unusual about this one is its eyes.
They should be black but these are milky white, like pearls. They don't seem to have the individual facets (ommatidia) that are typical of insect eyes.
I've no idea why this should be but I've had a helpful and rather gruesome suggestion from Dr. Ross Piper
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I don't know about the eyes but I'm impressed at your beetle id skills. I ponder over ours here for hours!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I sometimes cheat and post the pictures on the iSpot web site - usually get an ID from experts in a few hours!
DeleteI have seen lots of these but never with eyes like this. It must be blind. I wonder if it had buried into something caustic.
ReplyDelete... could be. Someone else has suggested that it might be parasites....
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