Category Archives: Revising Bembidiina

How to collect beetles for DNA studies

Posted on 12 April 2013 by David Maddison

Preserving beetles for DNA studies is easy, but a few rules need to be followed. You will first need to decide which specimens to preserve. It is ideal to have two or more specimens of a species preserved, so that … Continue reading →

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More hidden species in Bembidion: a multiplicity of “Bembidion kuprianovi”

Posted on 6 April 2013 by David Maddison

In Lindroth’s magnificent 1963 treatment of Bembidion of Canada and Alaska (and the northern contiguous States), he notes the extent of structural variation within species. Some species he notes to be relatively uniform, others more variable. As I delve into … Continue reading →

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Four?

Posted on 23 March 2013 by David Maddison

In western North America small, dark Bembidion (Plataphus) are common on gravel river shores.  Most of these are called Bembidion curtulatum.   They are the smallest members of subgenus Plataphus (sensu Lindroth) in North America, at about 3.5 mm long. As … Continue reading →

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Photography of beetle microsculpture

Posted on 8 March 2013 by David Maddison

Here’s the setup I use to photograph microsculpture of beetles.  I also use the same setup to photograph whole beetles, or other parts, including genitalia, although there is some variation in lighting, position, etc., depending upon the part.  In some … Continue reading →

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Sculpture on a very small scale

Posted on 7 March 2013 by David Maddison

If one looks up close onto the back of a carabid beetle, one will see (in most species) very fine, engraved lines which form a pattern, usually looking like honeycombs, or bricks, or long, thin parallel lines.  This is called … Continue reading →

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Pretty heads and furrowed brows

Posted on 26 February 2013 by David Maddison

What is it about Bembidion heads?  And, in particular, what is it with the heads of one subgroup of Bembidion, the Bembidion Series?  The Bembidion Series is a large clade of few hundred species, and represents perhaps a quarter of … Continue reading →

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Morphological subtleties and the value of n > 1

Posted on 18 February 2013 by David Maddison

Authors should consider illustrating two or more specimens of a species when trying to communicate the nature of some morphological trait in that species. Here’s why. In illustrating morphological features in a publication, authors typically choose one specimen to image … Continue reading →

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The mysterious Bembidion ulkei

Posted on 15 February 2013 by David Maddison

In Carl Lindroth’s (1963) classic work on the Bembidiina of Canada and Alaska, he describes some species that do not occur in Canada or Alaska.  These species were always a source of some mystery to me when I was a … Continue reading →

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Names in native languages

Posted on 11 February 2013 by David Maddison

In an early post, I talked about how naming a species after the native people of an area should be done with caution, and ideally with permission.  While a name of a tribe is potentially offensive, I had thought that … Continue reading →

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Delightful DNA

Posted on 6 February 2013 by David Maddison

Well, it looks as if Bembidion (Plataphus) curtulatum is at least three species.  The above bits of DNA show parts of 28S ribosomal DNA.  Of the 950 bases that were sequenced, this shows only those sites that differ from one … Continue reading →

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