Darkling Beetle And Moqui Marbles

by Gregory Scott

Title

Darkling Beetle And Moqui Marbles

Artist

Gregory Scott

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

The darkling beetle is often called a stink bug. They can make a stink from their rear end. I've read that there is a mouse that will catch them, stick their rump in the ground, and then eat the beetle from the top down.

This beetle was found on the west rim of the canyon of the Escalante River, east of Escalante, Utah, and west of the Kiva Coffee House, down a dirt road with several excellent dry-camping campsites. It was as far as I could go down the road without going through deep sand in a 2WD pickup.

I have another photo of a beetle that looks very much like this, but I'm not sure if it's the same species of beetle, or not. That other beetle is not nearly as smooth as this one, but very pitted in texture, and was found on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Moqui Marbles are round precipitated iron oxide that forms where iron-rich water leeches out of redrock sandstone. They are the spherical stones in the photo, and many of their fragments are in the photo, also. They are quite strong and hard, and often hollow, as you can tell from a fragmemt in the lower left. They're also often polished on the outside, as you can see from the two behind the beetle, and above it. Moqui means "spirit of the dead" in the Hopi language, and the term "Moqui Marble" might possibly be disrespectful, but I'm not sure. I will ask when I get a chance, or if you know, you can email me. However, I use the term because it seems to be the common designation for this mineral deposit.

These mineral deposits are similar to the ones called "blueberries", found on mars, which may indicate organic life may have been there at some time, because hydrocarbons may play a role in their precipitation.

Uploaded

July 17th, 2013

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