Pleasing fungus beetles are about 1 inch long and their eyes, head, legs and underside are shiny black. cover photo - 178944879

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Pleasing Fungus Beetles Are About 1 Inch Long And Their Eyes, Head, Legs And Underside Are Shiny Black.

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Photo title: Pleasing fungus beetles are about 1 inch long and their eyes, head, legs and underside are shiny black.
Author: Boxlizard

Cover photo description:
The pleasing fungus beetle, Gibbifer californicus, is native to Colorado and parts of Wyoming, Kansas, Arizona and New Mexico. Throughout this range they are most commonly encountered in moist riparian woodlands with large trees. Locally, they are found in stands of ponderosa at lower elevations and in aspen at higher elevations. The very best place to find them is around the bracket fungi that grow profusely on rotting logs. Adult beetles feed on nectar, pollen and the bracket fungi growing on rotting logs. Larvae feed exclusively on the bracket fungi, so if you want to see adult and larval pleasing fungus beetles, search rotting logs with bracket fungi. Beetles overwinter as adults and lay eggs on rotting logs near bracket fungi in spring. The larvae feast on fungi and grow quickly. As they grow, they begin to congregate and move to the underside of the log, where they hang and form pupae. Dense clusters of hanging pupae are reminiscent of a bat roost, but on a smaller scale. The pupae transform to unpigmented adults that synthesize and accumulate blue pigment. Adults are active for the remainder of the summer and into the fall.

accumulate active aspen bat beetle black blue californicus clusters coleoptera colorado congregate cypherotylus dense eggs erotylidae exclusively eyes fall family feast fungus gibbifer growing hang hanging head inch lacordaire larvae larval legs log long mexico moist move native near nectar order ornorder overwinter pigment pleasing pollen ponderosa profusely pupae range remainder reminiscent riparian roost scale scientific shiny smaller spring summer synthesize transform trees underside unpigmented woodlands

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Pleasing Fungus Beetles Are About 1 Inch Long And Their Eyes, Head, Legs And Underside Are Shiny Black.