Coleoptera... more like COOLeoptera!

Well, I'm still in Swift Current, SK.  All the terrible weather meant that we couldn't do amphibian auditory surveys (listening to see which species are calling in an area) during the evenings this past week, so our trip has been extended.  Working at night is really different for me, as I am used to daytime plant surveys.  It means that I hang out and work on my computer in the hotel room during the day and do all my driving around and hiking at night.  It's almost a little spooky sometimes, especially working in wetlands located in livestock enclosures.  I sure don't want to run into a herd of bison in the dark!  At least now the roads have dried up quite a bit, so we don't run the risk of being stranded in a cow pasture in the middle of nowhere at midnight with our truck stuck in the mud.

Speaking of our truck, he is a rental and I have named him Roger.  It just seemed fitting!  Here is a picture of the big guy:

Of course, it's no longer snowing like it is in the photo.  We saw the last of the snow melting in the ditches around Shaunavon yesterday, and it's been quite warm in the daytime.

Anyway, now to explain the title of this post.  As many of you likely know, Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly known as beetles.  The literal translation of coleoptera is sheath-wing, which likely refers to the hard covering, or elytra, that form the shell over a beetle's wings.  As many of you likely also know, I really, really like beetles.  One might say they are totally cool.

I'm not entirely certain what species these two beetles are, but I thought they were worth photographing!  I am hoping to identify them from my insect books upon my return to Saskatoon.  I have a suspicion that the black and orange guy might be a carrion beetle based on the colouring, but the antennae threw me off.  Check out the orange spots right on the ends!  Beautiful.

The black beetle pictured below cracked me up.  It was having a very difficult time walking over and around the lumps of soil in the cultivated field where I saw it.  My guess is that legs were relatively new to the little guy, since the blue thing in the picture seems to be the remains of pupa.  If the blue casing belonged to this beetle as while it was pupating (turning from a grub to a beetle), I would say that the adult must have emerged quite recently to find the beetle and pupal casing together.  But again, I'm only speculating.  Maybe he was just nomming on somebody else who was pupating.

I'll be sure to update you if I find out what species these amazing little guys are.

-J.R.