Cryptoentomology

the snow beetle.
They say in the Alps there is a very secretive beetle, all white and hairy, and its size is about 6 cm.. There were eyewitnesses, but there is no evidence. Like the snow beetle is called...))

In the case of vertebrates (and then only with large ones), "eyewitnesses" can at least visually distinguish this something from everything else. And with insects, sometimes a specialist can not visually distinguish one from the other, even if there is material.

No, I didn't mean those insects that a specialist can't distinguish.I meant those who really remembered whether it was the size or something else.

and what to do with these insects? you can't describe a new species, unless you organize an expedition to these places to catch this species...

It is in our latitudes that you can focus on stories about size, strange shapes, catchy colors - because there are not so many memorable types at once. And, say, in the rainforest-any horned-mustachioed-colored big man, I think, in the order of things, and it is unlikely that any of the locals will be able to explain what he saw and how this" something " differs from what they saw before.
Another thing: there are a lot of little-known insects that no one has collected since the description. Or insects that are considered extinct.
In general, the study of insects is actually still just beginning. And most likely, the described species are just the tip of the iceberg.

and I also remember a bike from some encyclopedia, saying that some guy saw Titanus giganteus 23 cm long, but there are no similar copies, so this is considered a myth

there are absolutely transparent insects, and therefore not collected ((

No, I didn't mean those insects that a specialist can't distinguish.I meant those who really remember whether it's the size or something else.

Yeah. Here in Orenburg, there is a rumor that on the border with Bashkiria about ten years ago they caught a hefty karabus with large grains on its elytra, metallic blue. The copy settled somewhere with student fees at the pedagogical university, and safely disappeared
This is how new Ural procerus species disappear

And here one of the teachers tried to search the basements for a giant cockroach, which an eyewitness told him about on April 1 by phone. However, he came to the housing office for the keys to the basement already on the 10th, so he was sent in a certain direction.

It is in our latitudes that you can focus on stories about size, strange shapes, catchy colors - because there are not so many memorable types at once. And, say, in the rainforest-any horned-mustachioed-colored big man, I think, in the order of things, and it is unlikely that any of the locals will be able to explain what he saw and how this" something " differs from what they saw before.
Another thing: there are a lot of little-known insects that no one has collected since the description. Or insects that are considered extinct.
In general, the study of insects is actually still just beginning. And most likely, the described species are just the tip of the iceberg.

Why go so far ? A vivid example is Western Ukraine: Sarabus rybinskii (considered extinct) - we are looking hard ! excellens frivardskyi - re-found and described . Since the time of the description, no one has caught it .
There is still one more mysterious species-Carabus seriatissimus .What it is is still unknown . We still have to catch it and sort it out. It seems that no one else has caught it since the day of the description.

But the description is still there?

But the description is still there?

The description is there - there are no beetles. Or rather, no one really looked for them.

Yes, yes, and we have a chela one night in the woods caught a big sawyere, which was then stolen from him by students.

And the Tarpaulin seriatissimus is a valid subspecies of schiedleri, the Hoverla array is written,?mount marmoros

And we supposedly once had Appolons.. But there is no proof.

Yes, yes, and we have a chela one night in the woods caught a big sawyere, which was then stolen from him by students.

And the Tarpaulin seriatissimus is a valid subspecies of schiedleri, the Hoverla array is written,?mount marmoros

And we supposedly once had Appolons.. But there is no proof.

Yes, I know that the Tarpaulin taxon is filed as schiedleri, but this is not an axiom.
The fact of the matter is that some indicate it as a synonym for Zavadsky ,others-as schiedleri. All the information is very contradictory.
And who saw it in modern fees(I did not see it in the old fees either), price lists, bags were blown out? Maybe it's just comptus of some kind, or anything at all.
And it should look like zavadsky ,only very large 37-40 mm. The main gaps are wider than the others. And it has dots on all the gaps ,not just on the main ones like Zavadsky's.
So today the question is open .
If there is a desire, we can go to Marmorosh next year and close this issue.

This post was edited by rpanin - 22.09.2008 17: 02

I'm giving very oblique glances at the Carpathian forests, so next year we should write off, maybe we'll catch everything we can.. especially 4cm karabusyatok ))) At the same time and catch everything else)))

You still have to decide on your plans

The Carpathians are somewhere between June and July, so there's nothing to worry about ))

So I decided to make my contribution to cryptoentomology. There is a story in Rostov UFO circles that on the Green Island (on this island for some reason all sorts of ufologists-cryptozoologists, etc. find all sorts of oddities, such as portals on the island in the Pacific Ocean) there is an insect "Gunda". It's like a huge wasp. Flies and "gundit" - hence the name.
Well, if you take it more seriously-this is about the fat steppe. There was such a grasshopper in our steppes, listed in the Red Book. And it is not clear whether it is now on the territory of the region or not. But several times I heard from people (including one entomologist) that he/ his friend / friend of his friend (underline) caught such a baaaalshogo tooolstogo grasshopper, but he fed it to a cat/dog (underline again). And how it really was, who knows. As they say, the truth is out there.
But now it's quite serious: A novel, and there is no typical material of this very C. seriatissimus left? Maybe you should take a good look at the museums where Reutter's materials have settled? And then maybe you will catch but not that. And in general, the description of neotypes is an unusual golovnyak.

Here are two official cryptozoological objects:

GOLDEN ANT

Legendary Invertebrate or Rodent of Central Asia.
Physical description: Size of a fox. Skin like a leopard’s.
Behavior: Moves swiftly. Digs holes in the winter.
Distribution: Highlands around the Indus River area in Pakistan; Jammu and Kashmir State, India.
Significant sighting: The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of an area in northern India where large, vicious ants dug burrows that turned up a large quantity of gold-bearing sand.
The Persians went to the region in the morning to bag the sand and take it back while the ants were still underground.
Present status: Not taken very seriously for nearly 2,500 years, until Michel Peissel visited the region in 1996.
Possible explanations: (1) The Long-tailed marmot (Marmota caudata) of Baltistan in northern Pakistan, Michel Peissel notes, burrows in goldbearing soil. The ancient Persian word for these animals translates as “mountain ant,”which resulted in Herodotus’s misidentification.
(2) Other sources mention giant insects in northern China. Berthold Laufer has suggested a confusion of the Mongolian word for ant, shorgoolj, with the Shirongol Mongols, now more commonly known as the Dongxiang, who currently live in Gansu Province, China, east of Linxia.

MADAGASCAN HAWK MOTH (GIANT)

Undiscovered insect (Invertebrate) of Madagascar .
Scientific name: Xanthopan sp.
Physical description: Hawk mot h wit h a 16-inch proboscis.
Distribution: Lake Itasy, Madagascar .
Possible explanation: The epiphytic Madagascan orchid Angraecum longicalcar has a rostrellum
about 16 inches deep t hat leads t o it s nectar-producing organs. No known local mot h has a proboscis that long. However, entomologist Gene Kritsky predicts that one must exist, since the plant manages to propagate it self.
Present status: The existence of a Madagascan hawk moth (Xanthopan morgani praedicta) with a 12-inch proboscis was predicted in 1862 by Charles Darwin, due to the physical requirement for reaching the nectar in the Comet orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale). The insect was finally discovered and described in 1903.

there is an insect "Gunda". It's like a huge wasp. Flies and "gundit" - hence the name..
..caught such a baaaalshogo tooolstogo grasshopper, but he fed it to the cat/dog (necessary, again, to emphasize).

A huge wasp is a large scolia. For people who are far from entomology, the first meeting, for example, with Scolia maculata makes an indelible impression. And the" resurrected " steppe fat man is just Onconotus. I have repeatedly heard from students and amateurs who excitedly told me that they saw a fat man. Those who were smarter brought it in a box. It was always Sevchuk. And another teacher at an environmental camp showed children stick insects in the north of the Rostov region. I was there, as they say in a wonderful opera, accidentally happened. The stick bug was Chorosoma schillingi.

.
And now quite seriously: Ruslan, and the type material of this very C. seriatissimus is not left? Maybe you should take a good look at the museums where Reutter's materials have settled? And then maybe you will catch but not that. And in general, the description of neotypes is an unusual golovnyak.

In the Lviv museum, which has the richest collection of the region, S. seriatissimus-a no.

I remember Kaabak's "I'm Going to Look for..." describes an encounter with what he believes to be a giant peacock-eye in the forests of Primorye.
Even in various near-entomological literature, it is mentioned that we have stick insects in the foothills of the Caucasus.
And a relative told me a few years ago that in the early 90's he saw a bee in our dacha, which is very similar in description and behavior to the xylocope.
In my opinion, the most plausible story of these three is about xylocopa.
That's all the "cryptoentomological" facts that came to mind.

 
And a relative told me a few years ago that in the early 90's he saw a bee in our dacha, which is very similar in description and behavior to the xylocope.
In my opinion, the most plausible story of these three is about xylocopa.

Xylocopa in the Moscow region is quite real. Collection "Scientific bases of the Moscow region wildlife protection" M "Nauka" 1988 p. 78-79 article by L. B. Volkov, V. B. Beiko " Finding of the carpenter bee Xylocopa valga Gerst. in Moscow" 9.10.1987 caught at the metro station "Akademicheskaya". A completely unweaved specimen that has just emerged from the chrysalis. Near the found specimen, old trees were cut down shortly before, apparently "the nesting cavity of the xylocope was opened during logging."

rpanin: Not there to look for it is necessary to look for types in Europe.. I can ask for help, or you can also write to these museums yourself and ask if they have these types.

The subfamily Prophalangopsinae Kirby includes a single genus, Prophalangopsis Walker, with a single species, P. obscura Walker, 1869.

This is me all to the fact that the view is known by a single instance stored in Nat. Hist. Museum ,London. Label - something like (I don't remember exactly) "Brit. India", i.e. modern times. India + Pakistan + Bangladesh + Burma + ? No one had collected anything like this since Walker's time.

The beauty of these profalangopsinae is that it is a "Mesozoic" family, i.e. a real living fossil.

Quote from "Fauna of the USSR" on Histeridae:
"Glymma candezei Mars is particularly mysterious; in 1856, a specimen of this undoubtedly exotic beetle was found in Belgium in a melon bed; since then, this species has never been found again, and its homeland remains unknown."
The Fauna was published in 76, i.e. more than 30 years have passed since then.
Interestingly, have you already established what kind of Glymma it is and where it came from?

This post was edited by Necrocephalus - 23.09.2008 23: 12

A huge wasp is a large scolia. For people who are far from entomology, the first meeting, for example, with Scolia maculata makes an indelible impression. And the" resurrected " steppe fat man is just Onconotus. I have repeatedly heard from students and amateurs who excitedly told me that they saw a fat man. Those who were smarter brought it in a box. It was always Sevchuk. And another teacher at an environmental camp showed children stick insects in the north of the Rostov region. I was there, as they say in a wonderful opera, accidentally happened. The stick bug was Chorosoma schillingi.

Nah, this is all bullshit. For the "gunda", quite specific dimensions of 50 cm were indicated. And that most of the "steppe fatties" turn out to be banal Onconothus servillei is also understandable. And they bring them and say-look what a fat guy. But those friends who saw the fat man, but he was eaten by a cat/dog show on their fingers his real size, that's what's amazing. Posto no one purposefully searched for this beast, no one, I think. There are rumors that it has been preserved in the Rostov region.
And about the stickman-this is a well-known story))))

The Lviv Museum, which has the richest collection in the region , does not have C. seriatissimus.

Yes, figs with him with the Lviv museum. It is necessary to look for a typical Reutter material. See which museums of its type have settled in and send requests to them. So RippeR will help you. And without it, you can't do anything. More precisely, you will do it, but not what you need. You can catch a similar view, but not the same one. And then someone in the future will have to do an audit - do you know how he will swear?

once went such a pyanka..
these beetles are the only known specimens of 3 species caught by Plavilshchikov.

And this beetle does not exist in nature at all :
I caught it last year, in Moldova, where nothing like this is known. Unfortunately, only 1 copy.. Otherwise, I would have described it long ago.. And so, while it will lie without a label or name.

once went such a pyanka..
these beetles are the only known specimens of 3 species caught by Plavilshchikov.
And this beetle does not exist in nature at all :
I caught it last year, in Moldova, where nothing like this is known. Unfortunately, only 1 copy.. Otherwise, I would have described it long ago.. And so, while it will lie without a label or name.

Well done that photos of Xylothrechus-s posted!!! In the straightened form of these animals have not yet seen Only the Smelters did not catch them, but described them And in the second picture who? Xyloclytus of some sort?
Only this is no longer cryptoentomology ... these forms are real, and the only mysterious thing about them is that they were caught after all. Such as Tetropium tauricum.

This post was edited by Cerambyx - 24.09.2008 08: 16

Xylocopa is caught in the MO region! And there is nothing mysterious about it. It is even included in the Red Book of the region

In my opinion, the situation with such elusive species is like with the cowboy Elusive Joe from the old joke: he is so elusive, because no one needs him. As soon as someone begins to seriously engage in these mysterious species, all the mystique disappears somewhere. And yet, I can't figure out what cryptozoology has to do with it...

This post was edited by Anthrenus - 09/24/2008 11: 15

In Yar.O., such a "cryptozoological" beetle is the stag beetle. There are many legends about his observation (my friend..., my friend's friend..., my friend's grandfather,...), he even got into the "opuses" of the popular science plan, written by Pedovtsy. I have one copy, a small one, allegedly caught by a schoolboy near Yaroslavl, not far from the railway station. and given to me by his teacher, a former student of ours... But neither I myself (how many times I did not search), nor verified colleagues (Anthrenus; Dmitrich et al.) did not find this species....

Cerambyx: all xylotrechus

Xylocopa is caught in the MO region! And there is nothing mysterious about it. It is even included in the Red Book of the region

Well, yes, valga used to be found, now it seems to be almost extinct. I recently heard about violacea being caught in the area. For me personally , this is a mysterious thing, because never in our latitudes has xylocop seen

Oh, I also know cryptozoological-entomological animals!
These are female barbels from the genus Pogonarthron. So far, not a single female from this genus is known, and there are enough males, and there are about 6 species, as far as I remember.. these females are secretive-somewhere in the bushes in the soil or even where they hide, they do not fly because they do not have wings..

Cerambyx: all xylotrechuses

Well, it's clear I meant the subgenus.

there is no point in thinking anymore )) Now it will most likely already be a new genus