Paydirt!

Continuing where my last post left off, the Berleseing went fantastically (thanks to Shelley putting in some weekend hours!) Beetles in all samples, in good numbers, including many Cercopeus (from both Wannamaker and the 'WalMart site'), among other things. I've only thoroughly sorted one so far, the pine litter from Wannamaker, but the beetles included at least 4 or 5 different Pselaphines, a diversity of Scaphidiines and Scydmaenines (all now considered part of Staphylinidae proper), Leiodids, Latridiids, Carabids, Cryptophagids, Tenebrionids, Nitidulids, Ptiliids (surprisingly few), and even a Histerid (Xestipyge)! I can't wait to go through the other 5 samples, and then to get back out in the field and hit some new sites. The season is in full swing. Below are a couple of through-the-eyepiece snapshots.

I might have warned the sensitive that I do have a bit of a thing for ants, for reasons that many readers will already know. Hint - it also has to do with beetles - but that'll be a post for another time.