• 

• 

I’ve found a few of these strange little gray beetles in this odd position — with their antennae folded back, their front half braced on the top of the boardwalk railing and their back half dangling off the side — and I wonder if they aren’t just doing their best to pretend to be part of the railing as I walk by. Honestly, if the wood of the railing were any lighter, they might blend in with it, or maybe they look like dirt, bird poop or other debris.

“Flat-faced longhorn beetle” actually refers to the subfamily, Lamiinae — this individual species, Ecyrus dasycerus, does not have a common name (but it should!). It also belongs to the tribe Pogonocherini, which will be the name of my first band, or possibly my first jumping spider.

• 

Unfolded, E. dasycerus actually have lovely, long, furry antennae — hence the “longhorn” appellation — and look pretty nondescript, but in this “You cannot see me!” pose they look like they are either praying, or hungover (or both!).

Ecyrus dasycerus are generally mottled gray with black and white patterns, but the dark, U-shaped mark at their “shoulders” (the top of their elytra), that kind of looks like a smile, is distinct to this species.

I love the first photo top left, of the beetle posed as at a board meeting, a meeting of a very selective board, about to make someone an offer they cannot refuse.

• 

•