Or underfoot, as may be.

Philolithus elatus have started to emerge

Last fall, we gathered data on the physiology, temperature sensitivity and lifespans of Eleodes obscura and its presumed mimic Philolithus elatus. The data were interesting and I have drafted a paper, but it seemed worth trying to replicate the results to be sure the data were solid.

One of the limitations of working with a seasonal organism, like P. elatus, is that one can only work during a narrow window, when the animals are available and alive. True stink beetles, like E. obscura, survive for years, so one can simply collect a bunch and then do experiments almost indefinitely. Philolithus die less than two months after emerging, then are completely gone until late the next summer.

Hence my excitement at finding the first P. elatus of the season.

More are emerging every day. We now have seven P. elatus available for experiments, and are hoping to bring the total to twenty within the next week. There are plenty of E. obscura available as well. We should soon have a big pile of data to add to the manuscript.

For a little more info on P. elatus, check out the new Wikipedia page that I started.