Recently, on an afternoon walk Matt spotted two huge, black and white beetles hanging out on a tree stump. The bugs looked like nothing I have ever seen in the fair state of Washington, and I immediately suspected them of being an invasive species.
My immediate thought was to say a Buddhist-Jewish-Agnostic-Aethiest-Pagan prayer for the beetles and squish them. However, Matt suggested we leave the Beetles be, do some research, and come back if need be with more information.
Our research pointed us towards an invasive species: an Asian Longhorned Beetle. These beetles come from China and have begun appearing in parts of the US (presumably stowing away in containers full of useless plastic shit from China). The Longhorned Beetle kills hardwood trees, and the powers that be are collecting samples and information about their spread. So, with our supposed identification we set out to collect a bug sample.
(an Asian Longhorned Beetle)
It took a couple of attempts, but eventually we found one of the beetles on the same tree stump where the pair had initially been spotted. We put it in the habitat we had prepared for it, and took it home for further inspection and identification.
However, the bug did not look at all like an Asian Longhorned Beetle. Rather, research revealed it to actually be a native species: a Banded Alder Borer. Banded Alder Borers eat already dead hardwoods, are relatively uncommon, and according to the internet can sell for about $200-$500 in the bug collecting world.
(Tux, clearly, the beetle's name, a very large male Alder Borer.)
Upon realizing our mistake Tux was immediately returned to his stump. Hopefully the incident wasn't too traumatic for him. At least he didn't get squished by a (well meaning) Buddhist-Jewish-Agnostic-Aethiest-Pagan.
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