Seven-legged Carabus

[politula]

I caught an interesting Carabus nemoralis in southern BC recently. It has seven legs. How common is this? I guess as long as there is super glue there will be aberrations for sale on the internet. If my photo comes through in this post, the extra leg is the small one on the left.

Attachments:

[johnnyboy]

A pretty rare specimen, great addition to your collection! Well done


Johnny

[politula]

Thanks! The site has some derelict properties; have to wonder if there has been environmental contamination which could cause deformities.

[bichos]

Its plausible. I had three out of about 20 slight deformities including a double antenna from a series of Dorcus rectus ex Hiroshima JAPAN.

[politula]

That's cool!

I just repositioned the beetle and it turns out there are eight legs, both extras on the same side! I'll post a better photo once the specimen is dry.

[Deleted]

I hope you have a lead drawer no need for a light sheet to get those stags on a dark night

[megagyas]

Politula- Take a look at a post that I made in the "Trophy Room" category back on January 12, 2014. No glue involved here, and the question someone posed was "why do you pin large beetles through the scutellum". Ans. is that in large Dynastine scarabs, especially fresh specimens, greasing is less likely to happen over time. Why the tarsus is discolored on the left side is unknown and why the legs are a bit smaller on the right is also a reason for conjecture, but perhaps "Mother Nature" put all of energy into making all of those extra legs!

[politula]

That's a very nice specimen! Much like mine but the extra legs on the nemoralis don't appear to functional.