Cactus Column #2

The fifth day of our trip started out like any other day. We woke up, had breakfast, and drove to the park where we hiked and explored for most of the day. At Anza-Borrego, I was taking pictures of the beautiful flowers, like usual, when I realized that there were a lot of beetles in most of the beavertail cacti flowers. Excitedly, I observed the insects on Inaturalist and continued on to other flowers. I was surprised to see that the next beavertail cactus flower also had a bunch of the same beetles. Curious, I went to all the cacti that were in bloom and peeked into the flowers. Most of the flowers had the red and yellow beetles inside.
It turns out that the beetles are called ornate checkered beetles. Unlike most insects inside flowers, they are not pollinators. Instead, they feed on the flower and the pollen. They start their life cycle in a cactus flower. The larvae hatch at the base of the flower and feed on the flower so they can grow. Eventually, they will leave the flower when they are ready to pupate. When they are fully mature, they climb back into the flower to feed and lay their eggs and restart the cycle.
This relationship was really interesting to research. Along the way, I also observed several dead bees in the flowers. I tried researching why that is, but found little information on it. Interestingly, ornate checkered beetles are also predaceous and will feed on bee larvae if they live near a hive. Maybe there is a correlation there?

Publicado el marzo 23, 2018 02:30 MAÑANA por xiaoruiyang