Hawaiian Insects

[ stop the slideshow ]

carabid gas Thurston

carabid gas Thurston.jpg Theridion grallator red Thurston 1771ThumbnailsTheridion grallator red Thurston 1771ThumbnailsTheridion grallator red Thurston 1771ThumbnailsTheridion grallator red Thurston 1771ThumbnailsTheridion grallator red Thurston 1771Thumbnails

Escape Rd. near Thurston lava tube, May 14 2004, at night. I had just caught a carabid beetle (Blackburnia hawaiiensis) from a Clermontia leaf and dropped it in the jar, when it got all smoky inside. I think some kind of defensive chemical reacted with the ammonia in the jar; I could smell it when I held a beetle in my hand, but there wasn't any smoke.