Few arthropods have appeared on this blog so far, so here's a trio of specimens from that marvellous group known as the Coleoptera:
Ocypus olens (Müller, 1764) Għallis Point 31.X.2009
Oxythyrea funesta (Poda, 1761) - Chadwick Lakes, 25.II.2010
Blaps gigas (Linné, 1767) - Għajn Tuffieħa 23.IX.2009According to biologist J. B. S. Haldane, if a Creator exists he must have 'an inordinate fondness for beetles'*. Whatever one's religious persuasions (or dissuasions) are, there can hardly be any doubt about the accurate implications of his statement.
*Hutchinson, G. E., 1959. Homage to Santa Rosalia or why are there so many kinds of animals?. American Naturalist, 93: 145-159.
