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SCARABS

WIHIN HIS ISSUE

Scarab Cartns ............... 1

Te Bilgy Strategusantaeus (Drury) ................ 2

Scarab Publicatins .......... 3

eam Scarab Patch ........... 4

Helicn Fcus.................... 5

In Past imes IV ............... 9

EDIORSRich Cunningham

Scarab349@al.cm

Barney Streitbarneystreit@htmail.cm

Bill Warnerwbwarner1@cx.net

okko se haju, he jlkisds johtua

BACK ISSUESAvailable At Tese Sites:

Clepterists Scietywww.clepsc.rg/de-ault.asp?Actin=Shw_Resurces&ID=Scarabs

University Nebraskawww-museum.unl.edu/research/entmlgy/Scarabs-Newsletter.htm

Occasional Issue Number 22 November, 2007

Splendid cartoon humor rom the master himsel: Delbert La Rue.

Scarab ransormer by Matt Ezell, age 15.

Print ISSN 1937-8343 Online ISSN 1937-8351

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Strategus antaeus (Drury)

Notes On Biology

by Henry F. Howden

henry.howden@rogers.com

While in Nrth Carlina in the early1950s near Raleigh, I ten cllectedthird instar larvae Strategusantaeus by raking lea litter, but didnt nd the earlier stages. Later,n the Castal Plain near Faisn,I saw piles sand with a musesize pening (Pht 2), which Iassumed were burrws a small

mammal. One day I nticed smesurace litter, mainly pine needles,being pulled int ne the hles.Having a shvel handy, I dug up theentrance t the burrw and, t mysurprise, und an adult Strategusantaeus pushing a mass litterint a meter deep burrw (Pht4, my arm parallel t burrw). Inne burrw packed with suracelitter, I und either eggs (Pht 3)

Strategus r rst instar larvaeseparated alng the burrw at abutsix inch intervals. Apparently therst and secnd instars remain inthe burrw until the d supplygives ut, then mve ut t ragein the surace litter. Later I undpupae under lgs, giving theimpressin that the species ed nwd. Sme may, but they certainlyare nt limited t rtting wd.

Sme inrmatin n ther speciescan be und n the internet. Frexample, exas Strategus pensexas Beetle Inrmatin (2006)cmpiled by Mike Quinn. Treespecies are listed, with a shrtsummary n the lie cycle S.

Photo 1: Strategus antaeus (Drury) male.

Photo 2: Strategus burrow.

Photo 3: Strategus egg.

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aloeus and mentin that the larvaeeed n rtting wd r decayingplant matter amng ther things. Apicture the larvae this speciesis als included, pht by Drees.I have cllected S. aloeus adults

at night in the palm jungle nearBrwnsville by hearing them mveabut in dry lea litter. Perhaps themst unusual habit is seen in S.mormon (L.) which may be undin areas prairie under ld piles dung, presumably equalingdecaying plant matter. All in all,there is still a great deal that wednt knw abut these interestingbeetles!

Photo 4: Strategus instar.

Scarab Publications at

University of Nebraska

Editor Bills Note: I have found large Strategus cessus larvae

in the Chiricahua Mountins feeding on the underside of

dried cow pats.

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Page 4

Team Scarab Adventure Apparel

Hla yall! Oerta limitada! Great git idea! Impress yur riends, intimidatecarabidlgists, make yur signicant ther swn. Wear eam Scarab Adventure

Apparel. Adventure -shirt $18; great r yur skin (small, medium, large, x-large).eam Scarab Adventure Patch $7; great r yur backpack, eld jacket, dress blazer,r underwear. Available rm: Brett Ratclie r Mary Liz Jamesn, W-437 NebraskaHall, University Nebraska, Lincln, NE 68588-0514. Cash n the barrel head,n plastic, n IOUs, n line credit, n sb stries rm pverty-stricken gradstudents.

eam Scarab members at typical lab meeting

with Adventure Apparel.

First row seated, let to right, wearing sacredscarab pendants: Dr. Mary Liz Jameson andMS student Julia Colby. op row standing, let

to right, wearing Adventure ees: PhD studentJesus Orozco with sacred scarab pipe and Dr.

Brett Ratclife with Scarab Red beer.

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Page 5

A Review of Helicon Focus

By Barney D. Streit

Clseup phtgraphy small

scarabs, r parts scarabs,presents the challenge a narrwdepth eld. I yu cus n nepart the beetle, ther parts willbe ut cus. Tis prblembecmes wrse with increasingmagnicatin.

Autmntage systems d avery nice jb slving thisprblem. Te system shwn in

Pht 1 belngs t the FlridaState Cllectin Arthrpdsin Gainesville. ypical systemscnsist a dedicated Windwscmputer with the stwareinstalled, a digital camera witha macr lens n a stand, a lightsurce, a specimen stage and astepper mtr t autmaticallymve either the camera rspecimen upward r dwnwarda predetermined distance. Onceactivated, the system expses aseries phts (called a stack),each with a dierent part thebeetle in crisp cus. Te stwarethen cmbines (mntages) thestack int a single image witheverything in cus.

An example taken with this

system is the image Anomalaforaminosa (Pht 2) taken byPaul Skelley and Editr Bill.Beautiul...but there is a drawback.Tese systems are very expensive,up t $50,000! Fr the rest us,there is anther alternative, astware prduct called HelicnFcus.

Photo 1: Te system at the Florida State Collection oArthropods.

Photo 2: Image oAnomala foraminosa

(we think) rom Baja Caliornia del Sur,Mexico, taken by the system in Photo1.

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Te way Helcn Fcus wrksis this: yu take the images bymanually mving the camera rspecimen, cnvert the images tJPEG r IFF rmat, and thenpen them in Helicn Fcus r

prcessing. As can be seen in theimages here, it wrks pretty well.

Te dwnside is yu have t guesshw ar t mve the camera rspecimen r each sht. Oten,when peering thrugh the cameras

viewnder, it is dicult t seeexactly what is in cus and what isnt. I in dubt, take mre phtsin smaller increments.

Photo 3: A stereo microscope and digitalcamera ready to expose a stack o images.

Anther prblem is presented whenusing stere micrscpes. Temicrscpe is cused n a verticalaxis, but the image path is nt

vertical, as can be seen in Pht 4.Prcessing a stack images taken

thrugh such a micrscpe willrender a uzzy nal image.

Photo 4: Te image path betweenthe microscope and specimen is notvertical.

Te slutin, at least r my Zeiss,is an intermediate munt thatcenters the bjective lens verthe image path, thus eliminatingangular distrtin in the stack phts, because the image pathand cusing path are nw aligned.

Tis munt is shwn in Pht 5.

Te prcedure is relatively simple.Set the camera t manual expsuremde. I yur camera has a sptmeter, use it t adjust the shutterspeed until the expsure is crrect.A cable release t trigger the

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Photo 5: Te intermediate mountshits the image path to align

with the ocusing path.

shutter is a necessity. Use mirrrlckup i yur camera has it inrder t reduce camera vibratins.Finally, expse a series images as

yu adjust the cus plane ver allparts the beetle.

I yur camera saves images asJPEGs, these can be prcesseddirectly int Helicn Fcus. Frmre cntrl, yu can use RAWimages. Select the RAW imagesand pen them in Phtshp.In the RAW Cnverter, yu canSelect All the images, then hitthe Synchrnize buttn. Makeany necessary adjustments, suchas Clr emperature, Expsure,Recvery, etc. Use the histgram asan aid in making these adjustments,as shwn in Pht 6. Once yu aresatised, pen the images, then savethem as JPEG r IFF images.

Once Helicn Fcus is bted, pen

the stack JPEG r IFF imagesand hit the Run buttn. Watch inamazement as Helicn Fcus takesthe rst image and adds sharp areasrm the secnd image t it, and sn.

Photo 6: Adobes Camera Raw Converter, showing the Select Alland Synchronize buttons on the upper let. Te large spike on the

let o the histogram shows loss o detail in the shadows. Tis isnot a problem; it is simply the black background. Te slight spikeon the right side o the histogram shows a little loss o detail in

the highlights. o compensate or this, move the Recovery sliderto the right until the spike disappears.

Photo 7: Helicon Focus with the stack opened and ready toprocess. Notice the shallow depth o ocus o the single image inthe Preview Window.

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Larger bjects may nt requireHelicn Fcus. Tis is nt t say

yu cannt r shuld nt use thistechnique n larger specimens. get the entire specimen incus, yu must clse the aperture

the lens dwn t /22 r /32.Te dwnside t this ne shttechnique is that these settings arent using the sharpest part thelens. Fr mst lenses, the sharpestaperture is usually in the range /8 r /11.

Fr shts nt using the micrscpe,sme srt cusing stage tmve the camera r the specimen

is required. Simply changing thecus n the lens barrel will distrtthe stack. Te unit shwn hereis rm Really Right Stu, http://www.reallyrightstu.cm/rrs/index.asp.

Helicn Fcus can be purchashed the Web at: http://www.helicnst.cm/helicncus.

html. At $100-300, this is reallyinexpensive when cmpared tautmntage systems.

Photo 8: A composite o 9 images.

Photo 9: A composite o 13images.

Photo 10: A Really Right Stuf ocusing slider designed or

lenses with tripod collars.

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In Past Years - IV - Australia & Argentina

by Henry F. Howden

henry.howden@rogers.com

Previusly, we mentined thatAustralians like their beer. It isgreat in the ht, dry interir, but itcan be verdne. In Queensland,west the Great Dividing Range,many rads have nly a singlesealed (= paved) lane: a ne-carwidth sealed center with a wideshulder n each side brderedwith white stakes at intervals.Many these narrw rads arestraight r miles. One day Anneand I were ging t Frty-MileScrub Natinal Park (144 50 E18 04S) n ne these narrwrads when we gt behind a airlyslw mving car. It was weavingrm ne shulder t the therand ten taking dwn a whitestake bere it crssed the radt the ther side. An ccasinal

empty beer bttle was tssed ut.We did nt dare t pass, as theirdriving was t erratic t take achance at passing. Ater llwingr miles (and seeing numerusbttles ejected rm the car), wecame t a 10 degree bend in therad. Instead llwing therad, the car in rnt kept gingstraight, mwing dwn smalleucalyptus n the way. Small trees

and scrubs slwed the car untilit stpped abut 100 yards rmthe rad. We heard much laughterand saw mre empty beer bttlesejected, s we thankully drve nat a smewhat higher speed. Tenext day, when we drve back, thecar was n lnger there.

One cant mentin Australia withutsmene asking yu i yu had seenAyers Rck. In the 1970s we drveenugh dirt rads withut wantingt add a ew thusand kilmetersmre just t see the Rck. Tenin 1988 - 89, n ur last sabbatical,we decided t drive nrth thrughMt. Isa t ennant Creek anddwn thrugh the Centre tAlice Springs and suth with a sidetrip t Ayers Rck and the Olgas.Mst the rad t Alice Springswas sealed by then, but in placeswhere it wasnt, ne still had t peerthrugh the red bull dust whenmeeting a car ging the ther way.As we neared Alice Springs therewere signs that there had been smeunseasnable rain - lts fwers.It had rained abut three weeks

bere and we were tld that neeight year ld girl was standing in itcrying; she culdnt remember whatrain was! We went suth and turnedwest at Erldunda - a rad huse andseveral huses. We camped therer tw nights and had sme gdcllecting at lights, but during theday gave up cllecting abut 10 AMand stayed in the shade the rest the day - it was HO. Te next

mrning we drve n t Ayers Rckt nd that its prper abriginalname was Uluru and it was indeeda city! Actually, at sme times the

year it is the third largest city (upt 10,000 peple) in the Nrthernerritry. Tere are sme mtels,at least ne large htel, a caravan

Is it Henrys arrival in

Australia - or exit - thatdraws applause?

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park and a campgrund. Te placewas nearly ull when we were there.Since a large area including theOlgas belnged t the abrigines,ne needed permissin rm themt cllect. We didnt bther as

we intended t stay nly ne day.Hwever, light cllecting arundthe htel and mtels did nt seemt be cvered by the ban and weund that several shallw refectingpls, sme with lights, were veryprductive. Te last evening therewe decided t take pictures theRck at sunset. We tk sme the usual turist shts, but als tksme the dzens tur buseslined up r their passengers t takepictures. Sadly, we realized thatAyers Rck was n lnger an ut--the-way place, but culd be easilyreached by plane (its wn aireld),by bus r by car.

It shuld be mentined thatAustralians have a habit shrtening many wrds,

smetimes t the cnusin visitrs. Australians are Aussies,msquites are msies, NewZealanders are Kiwis. InWA a chicken was called achck(spelling?) and there werelts ther equally cnusing termsr ther d items. In nrtherncastal Queensland crcdiles arecrcs. us the ddest ne wasbeware lcs. We nally realized

that these signs and warningsreerred t the small lcmtivetracks that ten crssed thehighway that were used r haulingsugar cane.

En rute t Australia we usuallystpped in Hawaii. On several

Ayers Rock.

ccasins we were there lngenugh t wrk in a ew days cllecting. On ne such ccasin,we were ered a ride t ne the muntain ridges in an ld, twdr VW. Te wner annunced it

was in gd shape and he had justput in a new battery. We ladedur cllecting equipment, d,etc. and Anne gt int the rathercrwded back seat. Our driverstarted the car, but then delayedr a minute while he checkedsmething. Just as we started tleave, Anne yelled that the car wasn re and, since the car wasnt

mving we were able t quicklyevacuate, Anne scrambling verthe rnt seat. Te back seat wasdenitely n re, but was quicklyput ut by a handy re extinguisherthat was beside the driver. We werelucky that we were still statinary;Anne had sme singed blue jeansbut therwise there was n harmdne. Investigatin shwed that thesprings the back seat tuched

the terminals the new batterylcated under the seat. When Annesat dwn; the springs then acted likea taster, causing the plastic seatcver t burn. It turned ut thatthe battery was nt designed r aVW; it was tw inches higher than itshuld have been. A while later wecalmed dwn, scrunged anthercar and went cllecting, admiringsme Hawaiis unique fra and

auna.

South America

In the New Wrld, Argentinaprvided us with sme interestingexperiences. We rst visited therein 1982 as guests Antni and

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Juana Martinez. On the lng fightrm Ottawa t Buens Aires mst ur travelers checks were stlen.Frtunately we had divided themup s we had enugh r part ur stay. Tree days ater we landed

they were replaced as we had allthe necessary paper wrk; we werelucky! We were met at the airprt byAntni and taken t his huse rlunch. Ater an vernight fight andlittle sleep, we were nt very hungry.Juana appeared with a dinner plateull an inch thick steak, which wethught was r the ur us. Treemre quickly appeared. Ater a greatargument we nally cnvinced them

that we culdnt eat that much, butthe argument went n r days;Argentineans until 1982, at least,cnsumed great quantities bee.

A cnsiderable amunt winediluted with sda water wascnsumed bth at the large middaymeals, and at the 9PM eveningmeal. Antni shwed me his sdawater bttle which he pressurized

himsel . One adds the sda water tthe wine (nt a gd vintage) t therequired dilutin. I tried the winewithut the dilutin and quicklyagreed that it needed diluting.Te rst time I tried this using thepressurized sda I blew the wineut the glass; rtunately mstwent n t the tile fr, but it wassme time bere I was allwed ttry again.

We spent a ew days in BuensAires visiting the Museum andcllecting lcally. We then let with

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Antni and drve suthwest ta ranch wned by a lawyer cusin his. Antni, unrtunately, wasa nervus driver and we becamemired n the dirt rad leading this cusins huse. We were quickly

pulled ut (they were expectingus) and ushered int a very largeld huse (12 bedrms!) that hadbeen beautiully restred. Tatevening we sat dwn t dinner at alarge table with abut a dzen therguests r relatives (never culdgure it ut). wards the end the meal, I made the mistake asking what is a Pernista?. Te

questin nearly started a rit. Itturned ut that there were as manykinds Pernistas as there wereguests and everyne thught theirkind was the nly crrect ne. Aterthat we avided plitics the rest the trip.

We let a day later r Arizna, thename the area at the nrthernedge the pampa where Antnis

cusin wned anther ranchwhich seemed t be used mainlyas a hunting ldge. It was airlyprimitive, with a wd stve anda water tank n the r lled by awindmill that was manually turnedn and . We knw because wergt t turn it nce and nearlyfded the place. Te lcality livedup t its name - it was ht; mstlya grass and Acacia habitat withlts parrts that built cmmunalnests. Te nice part was that therewere masses beetles; ne nightthere were s many insects n urhrizntal sheet (using a 15 wattBL) that at midnight we sprayedthe sheet with an insecticide andlded it up r the night. It tk

mst the next day r us just tsrt thrugh the mass. Just bere welet, Antni and sme his riendsdecided t treat us t a gat rast(a chivri). A resh killed gat wasrasted ver an pen re (the air was

still ht - we guessed abut 100o F at11PM) and was prnunced ready teat abut midnight starting with thent-s-gd parts. Anne and I gaveup shrtly thereater, but the partywent n until the entire gat waseaten - abut dawn!

A day later we let and in tw daysreached Rsari de Lerma, a smalltwn near Salta. Tere Antniand ur ther entmlgists hadreceived a gvernment grant t set upan entmlgical institute and hadpurchased an ld building which theywere busy renvating. Te idea wast get the institute established andthen dnate their persnal cllectinsas a basis r entmlgical researchin nrthwestern Argentina. Antniand at least ne ther the ve

bught huses near the institute andall had given sme their unwantedspecimens t rm a nucleus the planned majr cllectin. Ourtransprt, a small pickup truck wassequestered t carry material r therenvatin, s Anne and I walked ut twn and cllected lcally mst the tw weeks spent in the area. Atthe evening meal (abut 9PM) we atein a yard beside the institute where

we were ldged. During the mealthere were ten vilent argumentsabut hw t d this r that, tenwith smene threatening t quit theinstitute. Nne the ve gured thatur spanglish was gd enugh tllw what was ging n, but ater amnth in Argentina, we understd

A local truck driverwho we hired to

transer the cartonsbetween the two

airports in BuenosAires.

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mre than they realized! Anneand I wndered just hw lng theinstitute wuld last. We did havesme very gd lcal cllectingand n week ends we were takenby sme the grup t avrite

lcals. Tese expeditins were ntsimple day cllecting trips, theyinvlved much shpping and thetruck was laded with clers ull d and drink (wine) chairs andmuch else. We drve t a restedarea nrth Salta where therewas a picnic table, arriving abutnn. A table clth was spreadn the table and a very elabratemeal was set ut alng with theusual wine and sda water. Anneand I did sme cllecting n thesteep, rested slpes, but wererequently called back t have smemre d. Ater lunch whichlasted well ver an hur there wasa quiescent perid lasting veran hur (siesta time), allwing ust d sme mre cllecting. Wewere then inrmed that it was

time t head back; we und wedid ur best cllecting when lett ur wn devices. We did havelts gd cllecting; Anne hada great time nt nly cllecting

Pandeleteius, but getting hstdata, while fight intercept trapscllected many scarabs, including

Neoathyreus, r me. When we letSalta, we cllected alng the wayging back t Buens Aires and

und much interest alng theway. Our return t Ottawa wasuneventul - we didnt have manytravelers checks let t be stlen!

Our return t Argentina in 1995was sad in a way; Antni andhis wie had been killed in a car

accident while ging t cllect inBlivia. Anne and I and tw riendsfew dwn t pick up his scarabcllectin and take it back t Ottawa(it was nt given t the institute).We knew apprximately the size

the cllectin, but little else exceptthat it was in the Martinez hme inRsari de Lerma. Lking back, Icnsider it the mst hectic trip ever,ull uncertainties and surprises. Wetk a quantity packing material,including extra suitcases, ldedcardbard cartns and tape. Weknew that Argentina had tied theircurrency t the US dllar t stp theirrunaway infatin, but what we didntrealize was hw much things nwcst cmpared t 1982. We quicklyund ut. A taxi rm the airprtt dwntwn Buens Aires cst $40US and all cabs were s small thatnly tw us plus luggage wuldt in ne cab. We had tw rmsbked at a Best Western, but bestit wasnt. Rms were minute andparts, including the air cnditiner,

were under cnstructin whichequaled it desnt wrk. It seemedexpensive at $80 US per night until welearned that the better htels charged$200-300 US per night; shades Paris! We had t get t the dmesticairprt at 6 AM the next mrning tg t Salta where we were t be metby ne Antnis sns. We askedr a 4 AM wake up. Frtunately ne us had an alarm which went

at 4:15; we quickly dressed, packedand went t leave, nly t nd all thedrs t the utside lcked and nne at the desk. Te night man wasnally stirred up ater we und himasleep n a ct. Tere was a mad dasht the airprt - we made it with 10minutes t spare. All went well r

Te Martinez home.

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the rest the day; we were met andtaken t Rsari de Lerma. Anneand I were hused in the Martinezhme and ur riends had a rm inthe institute (almst deunct - n htwater, etc., just beds). Te next day

we had a shck. Antni had cardedmst his specimens t avid pinsrusting in the specimens r r therreasns?? Smetime ater Antnisdeath, the r the huse leakedabve the cllectin rm and manyspecimens were getting mldy.Smene had said that spraying thespecimens with acetne wuld getrid the mld, s that was dne.Te mld was stpped, but the glue

hlding the specimens n the cardswas disslved, the result being thatperhaps 10,000 specimens were

just sitting n the cards and eachne had t be reglued and all hadt be checked and braced berethey were packed r shipping. Teresult was that the ur us wrkedrm 8 AM t 11 PM r tw weekst get the specimens ready t take

back t Ottawa. We then tried tnd ut the best way t ship theur large cartns, plus 4 suit casesull beetles (Hltypes went tBuens Aires). It was nally decidedthat we had t take them as excessbaggage, cst unknwn! When readyt leave, we hired a pickup truck ttake the cartns and luggage rmRsari t the Salta airprt; wethen were t take the lcal fight

t Buens Aires. Te time t leavewent past and n truck, we nallygt desperate and started t lk rany alternative. Frtunately we hadt g t a nearby stre r adviceand und ur pickup truck parkedn the next street with the driverasleep. We made it t the airprt

and und it unusually crwded.It turned ut that it was the lastfight r the pilt wh was retiringwhen he arrived in Buens Aires.N ne paid any attentin t urexcess baggage; it was tagged and

laded and shrtly thereater webarded and the plane tk .We reached cruising altitude andthe party began. It seemed that wewere the nly nes n bard thatdidnt knw the pilt. Te party hatsappeared, wine, etc., fwed and alittle later the pilt jined the unincluding a drink! An hur r slater we were happy t land saelyat the dmestic airprt t be met by

a large crwd welcming the pilt.We nally gt thrugh the crwdand rescued ur luggage. Ratherthan try t transprt everything tur htel (yes - the same ne) wedecided t stre it at the airprt andpick it up the next day t take tthe internatinal airprt. Tere wasquite an argument - they nly stredsuitcases! It tk $150 US t change

their minds. Te next day we renteda truck and arrived well ahead urfights departure t rnt. All ur luggage was checked in with nextra cst, the nly argument wasthat we had t much cabin luggage.We wn that argument, prbablybecause they didnt knw that itwas all ull the rarer beetles. Wearrived in rnt, cleared custms,and nly r the trip t Ottawa were

we then charged r excess baggage- $250 Canadian! We had dne agd jb; nly tw beetles came the cards and there was almstn damage. S ended ur Argentinetravels.

At the airport.