Video: This beetle hunts with a sticky harpoon!
For immediate release ‐ December 13, 2023
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
Dr. Adrian Smith, head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, says of his latest video:
I finally found and filmed a Stenus beetle! These rove beetles are famous for hunting springtails by using a projectile mouthpart (a modified labium) with sticky pads at the end.
I collected the individual in this video in Crossnore, NC in August of 2023. Long time Ant Lab collaborator Dr. Matt Bertone helped me find it and he took the still images you see of it in this video! follow him on X/Twitter @/Bertonemyia.
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