One of the largest wooded areas in Greater Vancouver is the former UBC Endowment lands, now known as Pacific Spirit Park. Of all the large parks in the region, I have spent the least amount of time in this one. I do not live close by, and it takes a while to get there, but I thought it might be fun to check out. Highlights of some of my past trips included Ceruchus striatus (see below), one of our few stag beetles… Stand by for a full report Sunday or Monday!
Pretty bad photo, but a pretty badass beetle!
I didn’t even know we had *any* stag beetles in our area! I’ll have to keep an eye out for them.
I just noticed the mite on it & another by the rear leg. Are they parasitic or the kind that use large beetles for transportation (don’t know if there’s a correct term for that) & are the two mites even the same species? Or maybe you’ll include the info in your write-up.
There are some that are just hitching a ride and some that are parasitic.
here are some I found on a Bess Beetle in Florida: http://bugguide.net/node/view/57182
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~biofsp/pdf05/23.AbundanceofPhoreticMites.pdf