Framed in an upcycled frame, this linocut was hand carved and printed by the artist Ben Brockman @brockchop. It is signed and numbered in an edition of 10. “Cotinis nitida, commonly known as the green June beetle, June bug or June beetle, it is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in the eastern United States and Canada, where it is most abundant in the South. It is sometimes confused with the related southwestern species figeater beetle Cotinis mutabilis, which is less destructive. The green June beetle is active during daylight hours. The adult is usually 15–22 mm (0.6–0.9 in) long with dull, metallic green wings; its sides are gold and the head, legs and underside are very bright shiny green. Their habitat extends from New Brunswick to Georgia, and as far west as California, with possible population crossover in Texas with their western cousin, the figeater beetle.“ #scarabidae #cotinisnitida #junebug #greenjunebeetle #greenbeetle #linocut #linoleumprint #tucsonartist #tucsonart #sonorandesert #insectillustration #insectart #boho #bohochic #bohostyle #farmhousestyle #eclecticdecor #ephemera #ephemeralart (at Tucson, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq37u5aPsTR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
A mulebug is a cow sized scarabidae beetle used by people of the island as a beast of burden.
The specimen pictured above would be actually quite a valuable animal. Animals with pure colored elytra are known to be of luxury and purebred stock. The markings seen on the elytra have been painted on by someone wanting to make their mulebug look nice.
The name of this blog came from the last world-building thing I actually attempted before making the blog. I was trying to imagine what a bridle and other tack would look like on an animal with a completely different cranial anatomy.
This is what I came up with. I do not have background in animal husbandry so I had to do quite a bit of research. The basic idea tho (that I kinda already had figured) is that you want an animal to be comfortable. An uncomfortable animal is a dangerous animal.
Designing tack for a mulebug turned out to be way simpler than I initially thought. The bridle is basically the same as a horse's but without a bit as the mouthparts aren't really able to accommodate such a thing. Instead there is a thick large pad of material situated just under the cranial horn with a strap wrapping all around the animal's 'chin' (there is going to be a lot of anatomical info in quotation marks. do you know how hard it is to make big bugs and a way to talk about them?). This connects to a medial strap that rests under the 'brow' plate. The connection between the two is where one may attach by some method reins. The medial strap attaches at last to another wraparound strap that rests in front of the 'cheek' plate. This whole arrangement allows for lots of leverage which I imagine is important for the animal and the driver.
I imagine that people tie hanging lanterns from the thoracic horns of mulebugs for when it gets dark. The end of the horn from dorsal view looks a little like a Fleur-de-lis.
The saddle lays on top of the thorax behind the horn. If it were on the abdomen, it would probably impede the animal's ability to 'vocalize'. I imagine these animals would retain their ancestral trait of making sounds by rubbing their elytra together quickly or hissing air thru them. If the saddle or any other part of the tack was on the abdomen, it would proably not make the animal very happy since it would use its vocalizations to ward off predators =:(
The stirrups hang at an angle and have foot rests at the ends. A mulebug is very wide so sitting with your legs completely open like on a horse would be uncomfy.
Finally, not pictured is the yolk for pulling carts. This would be on the 'shoulder', in front of the thoracic horn, where real-life scarabidae beetles put loads of pulling force. Other than that it would likely be pretty similar.
All of this tack was colored to look fancy, as the animal is a luxurious stock and would be prettied up often.
a really cute Canthon dung beetle I found on the delmarva peninsula awhile back
(Virginia, 10/14/21)
This is the type of dung beetle found in north america that makes little balls of dung and rolls them around, and while I’ve never been lucky enough to witness that in action the beetles themselves are still pretty excellent
By Olivier, G. A. (Guillaume Antoine), 1756-1814
Panzer, Georg Wolfgang Franz, 1755-1829
Sturm, Jakob, 1771-1848
Publication info Germany? :s.n.,18--?
Contributor: Smithsonian Libraries
BIODIV LIBRARY