Posted by raywilson on 12-07-2008 14:35
#1
I photographed this beetle in a mature oak wood in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland last weekend (5th July 2008). I think it is Athous haemorrhoidalis, but appears to be a very interesting mutant with 4 pairs of legs...
Anyone ever seen an insect with 8 legs before?
Posted by Isidro on 12-07-2008 16:30
#2
No idea about the species (you can look for it at http://www.elateridae.com/result.php?fam=&sub=&gen=&id=&area=e) but it seems to have six legs as everybody. But there are cases of eight-legged insects, such a Lucanidae in collection (I don't remember the species nor the page where I saw it)... Also in an entomological bulletin I saw a case of Ruptela maculata (Cerambycidae) with 3 tibia on the same femur... one of them broken...
Posted by Juergen Peters on 13-07-2008 02:58
#3
Hello!
raywilson wrote:
I think it is Athous haemorrhoidalis
No, that can be excluded. More likely
Hemicrepidius sp.. I think it's only a matter of perspective that both frontlegs are visible.