Frozen Insects

Visiting my sister Kris this week.  She lives in a glorious spot, near the King's Canyon, in a setting that can take your breath away.  This is Hume Lake.  She lives here with her husband and four children.  A visit here means family, fellowship, fastwalks-with-someone, good coffee, soul food....in every sense, catch-up with nieces and nephews that are constantly morphing into older people, sunny afternoons at the lake, loons, little red cayaks,  time to read and introductions to more good books, beautiful forest fauna, and some very interesting insects.
Last night, the cousins presented their collection box of frozen specimens.  They had collected several before the snows came, and found a few more recently.  All of them were in pristine condition.  All were preserved within minutes of being caught.  All of them represented "love" for me.....a crazy Auntie who really likes entomology.
The nine-line chafer beetle is as beautiful as any insect gets.....golden browns with white stripes down the back.  He has lovely insect fur on his underside, like a moth.  His antennae are club-like, and it took several hours to identify them today because of what I thought I was seeing.  My nephew Nate explained something new that I did not know.....what looks like a delicate "club" is really an intricate fan, all closed up.

Early in the spring, I had decided that I really needed to acquire a new bug collection.  My old one is just that.  Lots of eager hands come in contact with my insect specimens through out the year.....which is really important for them, and really hard on the bugs.  In college, I was given the assignment of collecting "One Hundred Specimens".  This summer, a young friend and I are doing collections of 250.
Coming to Hume Lake, I hoped I would have some time to find a few.  This gift of  14 is a precious gift.