The First Dichostatoides Beetle Posted to iNaturalist! - Observation of the Week, 10/4/24

Our Observation of the Week is this Long-horned Beetle in the genus Dichostatoides, seen in Nigeria by @bibitee!

Currently Head of the Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism Management at Osun State University, Osogbo in Nigeria, Owolabi Bibitayo Ayobami tells me 

I’ve been in touch with nature right from my childhood days. My parents showed me the way of conserving natural resources in my early days, they are my motivating factors. Presently, I’m into ornithological research. Alongside ornithology, I study lepidoptera and odonata as well.

When returning to his office after some field work with an apiary group, Bibitayo noticed the large beetle shown above on the door to his office. 

I said to my graduate assistant that we must have come with this guy from the forest and I decided to take the picture and post. It is in my usual character to take pictures of any biodiversity around me. And that’s how the whole drama played out.

iNat user @fubr, who specializes in African beetles, identified Bibitayo’s beetle as being in the genus Dichostatoides, making it the first observation of that genus on iNat! It may also be the first known photo of a living Dichostatoides specimen. It’s a member of the long-horned beetle family (Cerambycidae), the larvae of which feed on plant material and often bore into wood. There are around 35,000 described species in the family.

Bibitayo (above) joined iNat back in 2019 and says 

iNat has helped my students to get closer to nature. They are so conscious of the tiniest of all biodiversity around them and I see loads and loads of pictures from butterflies to ants and birds. It is a great platform to learn about nature.

(Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)

- long-horned beetles are among the most visually stunning of the beetle families, check out the most-faved observations of them on iNat!

- Bibitayo’s featured in this video about Hooded Vulture conservation. Note that it does contain some tough imagery and subject matter.

- @abubakaringim's Yellow-winged Bat, seen in Nigeria, was a previous Observation of the Week!

Posted on October 4, 2024 06:44 PM by tiwane