Vanishing IV (Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle)

Holly Downing

Vanishing IV (Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle) is from a series of ten mezzotints that feature vanishing species, in this case, invertebrates. Valley elderberry longhorn beetles are stout-bodied and the females (as depicted here) are more robust than the males and have dark-colored elytra (wing covers). The species is nearly always found on or close to its host plant, elderberry: the adults feed on the leafy foliage of the plant and the females lay their eggs on the bark.

Downing wrote about creating this series: “Getting to know these endangered insects a bit has been somewhat uplifting in this dark time, even though they are at the forefront of the ‘insect apocalypse’.”