We made a trip to southern Utah from July 7 through July 14, camping and exploring. The monsoon rains had begun to fall, but were not too disruptive of our activities, luckily. But they had brought out quite a lot of life, including quite a few beetle species, many of which were real surprises to me. Here is a selection of some of the beetles we saw...
 |
| Eleodes caudiferus, a real southern Utah phenomenon! These were rushing around on the dunes at Moquith Mountain Wilderness Study Area, a BLM parcel north of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Some thunderstorms created shade in the late afternoon here, and that coolness seemed to bring out the tenebrionids. |
 |
| Likely Craniotus sp. The most abundant beetle on the sand at Moquith Mt. WSA. |
 |
| Eleodes obscurus, a common darkling beetle of Arizona and Utah. Moquith Mt. WSA |
 |
| Hister beetles in a mating frenzy! Moquith Mt. WSA. |
 |
| Many Polyphylla came to black lights at Moquith Mountain WSA and the adjacent Ponderosa Grove Campground. |
 |
| Lucanus mazama at Moquith Mt. WSA. This surprised me, but I was soon to learn that this is a very common beetle near cottonwoods in S. Utah. This one is a male, with fairly large mandibles. |
 |
| Moneilema sp. This beetle scurried past one afternoon at our next destination, Long Canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante. |
 |
| Another Lucanus mazama, this time at Long Canyon. A female, with smaller mandibles. Several were seen at this location. On our last day in Utah, I saw eight L. mazama specimens at the grocery store in Escalante, dead or dying, apparently attracted to the store's lights. |
 |
| Lichnanthe rathvoni in a Cottonwood-dominated riparian area. Det. Dr. A. Evans. |
 |
| A dorsal view of the Lichnanthe rathvoni above. |
 |
| Brown Polyphylla. This one was at the slot canyon in Long Canyon, a magical spot, with a massive old-growth cottonwood growing at its entrance and a clean beautiful, narrow slot with wonderful tall walls extending into the mountainside. |
 |
| Ellipsoptera marutha, a VERY common tiger beetle in Long Canyon. |
 |
| Out last destination on this trip was the high elevation forest north of the town of Escalante. We camped at Posey Lake, in the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. The story of the "Box" and the "Death" is a complete mystery to us...! This is Odonteus obesus, which came to a black light set up by the lake. |
 |
| Probably Phaenops drummondi, a small buprestid. It was found on a hike near Posey Lake. |
 |
| These black elaterids were somewhat common flying in the daytime in the forest. Posey Lake. |
 |
| Diplotaxis sp., the only predictable beetle coming to lights at Posey Lake. The beetle fauna was almost absent at night here. |
 |
| A lepturine longhorn. These were found on lupine near Posey Lake. |
 |
| Trichiotinus sp. on thistle. Near Posey Lake. |
