Horned Passalus Beetles
Yesterday and today were my first encounters with Horned Passalus beetles, which were nteresting in many ways. Each of the beetles, though found in differnt parts of the state, had some sort of little mite-like creatures riding on their backs. Maybe they are parasites, or free-riders, or only something that was smashed up against them as the logs they were hiding under were disturbed. I don't know, but it would be fun to investigate this further.
A quick search didn't turn up anything precise concerning external parasites for this type of beetle, though you'd have to be pretty bored and desperate as a professional to concern yourself with looking into it. I however, am intrigued by all manner of uninteresting nonsense, and would love to try to isolate one of those little critters for decent identification photos. The only thing holding me back is a complete lack of training, understanding and proper tools.
Up until now I've been considering buying an Olympus TG-6 to get better photos. Everybody says that its macro ability is great for such a small, tough camera. Part of me wants to buy a stereoscope instead, but it's incredibly hard to justify such an odd toy when the camera can be used in more than just one hobby, such as hiking trips and family vacations. A camera seems more practical. It's easier to take shots with a camera and upload them later on than it is to capture something, take it to a stereoscope, photograph it, and then upload it. Either way, identifying something so small is almost certainly outside of my ability, so going full-in on a stereoscope feels overkill. I'll stick with the TG-6 idea for now, but if anybody out there knows of better options please send me a message!
