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Post by starlightcriminal on Jun 8, 2011 8:28:24 GMT -8
Anyone ever find D. tityus in Florida? I know it is here but haven't been able to locate any myself. Any collecting tips and localities are greatly appreciated!
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ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
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Post by ckswank on Jun 9, 2011 21:56:17 GMT -8
I've read (and heard) that the adults like feeding on ash twigs. I've found 4 males here in SE Texas so far this year at gas station lights, two of them about 20 feet apart on the same night (May 21st) at one gas station! Only collected 1 male & 2 females all of last summer.
Charlie
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Post by starlightcriminal on Jun 10, 2011 9:52:22 GMT -8
Thanks. Would you mind characterizing the surrounding habitat? I was also given the "last gas station for miles" advice by a local collector but so far have turned up nothing. I wonder if my locales of choice are just not in the right kind of habitat. Ash trees are not very dominant features of wild areas here, we're sort of on the extreme southern end of the range for most of them. There are few though, I will check them. I suspect they use something else here but that's just a guess. Thanks again!
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ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
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Post by ckswank on Jun 11, 2011 6:34:09 GMT -8
The area is rural & heavily wooded, near river bottoms, & the gas stations are out in the middle of nowhere along a state highway with very little traffic after midnight. Mostly oak & pecan, but I suspect there are other trees as well. It's about 50 miles from where I live, so I don't go down in the daytime, but I really should. The drought here is really affecting the insect populations. We are at about 15-18 inches behind in our annual rainfall & the year isn't half over yet! We usually average about 45 inches per year down near the coast. There were two tropical systems that made landfall down in Mexico last summer that brought a lot of rain with them as they moved north through Texas. That may be our only hope for some decent rainfall. I've also been told that D. tytius like rotting fruit, especially bananas, but I have not personally tried it. Wish you some success, as they are truly a magnificent beetle.
Charlie
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Post by 58chevy on Jun 11, 2011 18:38:31 GMT -8
I caught a half dozen of them in one night, in the flower bed under the sign at the Holiday Inn in Ocala, FL. One was a monster (60mm). Also caught lots of Strategus antaeus at the same location. Problem is, they were caught in 1960. You might try lighted buildings near the Ocala National Forest, or set up your own lights.
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Post by politula on Jun 12, 2011 10:18:15 GMT -8
I've caught a few at lights around Cross City and near by places along 19/27 (Dixie Co).
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Post by starlightcriminal on Jun 13, 2011 4:07:08 GMT -8
Thanks everyone! These are all close and accessible locations for me! I will be out hunting this weekend, no doubt. I'll report back.
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Post by starlightcriminal on Jun 18, 2011 6:12:51 GMT -8
Update- if you can't hear me in Florida from where you are, I am shouting "thank you!"
I checked last night near Micanopy on 441 and found an isolated bright light on a side street with both D. tityus and S. antaeus, though the latter only in the smashed-like-a-pancake morph. There were two females, one I have on apples right now and the other was crushed, one crushed male and several crushed S. antaeus. Of the six or so crushed beetles, only one didn't look like a fresh kill. I believe I left too late to start looking so I am going to try again this evening from dusk onward.
The area is predominantly moist, hardwood hammock. Lots of red maple and oak.
After 50 years, they're still going strong in North-Central Florida. Thank you everyone for your help!
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Post by entoman on Jun 18, 2011 11:47:44 GMT -8
I caught a few once at a camp in Spring Hill Florida. Quite enjoyable.
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Post by arrowhead on Jun 19, 2011 16:06:34 GMT -8
Like probably every other collector, I love it when I find one. But in my 5 years collecting I have been lucky to get a couple a year. In every instance (except for the only living female I've ever collected in person) I have found them at lit up establishments. I live right on the edge of a fair sized woods in North Carolina and have always read N.C. is a great location for them, but for me catches have been few and far between. I use lights and get a fair variety, but Tityus and elephus rarely come to my lights. I've had better luck finding elephus at my back porch light than my MVs. May be I'm using too much wattage (3 160 bulbs). I was lucky enough to get a decent sized elephus a couple weeks ago from one of my son's buddies. The fellow said it came to his porch light. Finding one this early seems unusual for me. I normally don't see them until about the end of June! I was very happy to get that one! Cheers, Arrowhead
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evra
Full Member
Posts: 230
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Post by evra on Jun 19, 2011 16:58:27 GMT -8
A common strategy that a lot of beetle collectors use when they run their lights is to have big MV lights and a small (4, 8, 15, 40 watt) UV light. Every couple of hours, they'll turn off the MV lights and run just the little UV for about 15 minutes.
The reason they do this is that a lot of beetles that get attracted to your lights tend not to make it all the way on to the sheet. They'll stop and hide anywhere between 10-50 feet away from the sheet, and then frequently you never see them. Once they get this close, they'll be within range of the UV and come piling onto the sheet.
In my experience Prionids are the worst at hiding around lights, but also Chrysinas, Dynastes, Strategus, Dung beetles, and to a lesser extent, Lucanus do this too. Species like Polyphylla and Nicophorus don't seem to have this problem and will come onto the sheet with the big lights running.
Before I figured this out, I used to walk around with a flashlight looking behind all of the rocks and logs around my lights, but it's laborious and you always tend to miss at least a couple of beetles.
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Post by starlightcriminal on Jun 20, 2011 12:07:02 GMT -8
I was using "lights of convenience" as in lights at an all-night convenience store. I wonder if they would mind me bringing my UV set up... It's an old fish tank set up, with an attinic bulb. Fairly bright, but nothing like the lights already present. I noticed that the beetles were a good distance from the actual lamps, in the parking lot a good 50 feet or more away. I returned last night to the same location and found no Dynastes but did get Strategus alive and well. I did check around with my flash light but didn't see anything. I'm going every night now though, just in case Anyone know anything about the length of season for Dynastes or if there are any particular emergence requirements for adults? The first night, when I found the Dynastes, it had rained heavily earlier in the day. Very dry otherwise right now, we could use some tropical storms down here.
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evra
Full Member
Posts: 230
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Post by evra on Jun 20, 2011 13:31:08 GMT -8
Unless you can get the guy to shut off the gas station lights for a while, I don't think it would matter if you brought your UV light or not. The idea is to run the UV by itself for a little while, then to turn the big lights back on.
By the way, this strategy works well for moths too.
Some beetles will burrow into the ground soon after they come to lights, especially Xylorcytes and Strategus.
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Post by arrowhead on Jun 21, 2011 8:17:29 GMT -8
Thanks for the info, guys. I do look around the perimiter of my lights and sometimes get lucky. I'll try the alternate uv/big light strategy tonight. Cheers, Arrowhead
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Post by bandrow on Jun 25, 2011 8:36:27 GMT -8
Greetings,
I also use the light "cycling" method that Evra talks about, and it is really productive. I learned it from a collector in Arizona, where it works excellent in open habitat like desert scrub, and eventually learned that it is just as effective in eastern forests. I run my MV light for about 45 minutes (with the UV running as well) and then shut off the MV. Within minutes, larger scarabs will begin raining in. Once the activity at the UV diminishes (usually 15-20 minutes) fire the MV back up and repeat the process all night.
In Alabama this month, I took Strategus aloeus and in Georgia I took Strategus antaeus, Prionus pocularis and many Pelidnota punctata this way. You will also get lots of smaller scarabs like Phyllophaga and Anomala - at one site I had no Phyllophaga at the sheet until I shut off the MV, and within 5 minutes I had at least 20 specimens drop in. This works for smaller cerambycids as well that land on plants or tree branches at the edge of the MV light, but then come all the way into the sheet when the UV runs alone - I got several Scaphinus muticus and other goodies this way this month.
Cheers! Bandrow
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