digging beetle with parasites?
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 8:06 PM
The beetle pictured is quite large and heavy. It is common during certain months in Coto Brus which is about 1100 meters altitude on the Pacific slopes of Talamanca Mts. in southern Costa Rica. This one was on its back and was apparently infested with what look like ticks. I didn’t know ticks parasitised insects. Could you please confirm both the name of the beetle and the creatures in ventral view that appear to be parasites? Third try.
Mary Thorman
highland rainforest sw Costa Rica

Dung Beetle

Hi Mary,
Thanks for your persistence. Sadly, we just don’t have time to answer all the letters that we receive. This is some type of Scarab Beetle, probably one of the Dung Beetles. The parasites are Mites. Many Mites are parasitic, but there are also Mites that use flying insects for transportation. These opportunistic Mites often nearly cover certain beetles, most notably Burying Beetles. In the case of the Burying Beetles, the Mites feed on Maggots that infest the carrion that the Burying Beetles lay their eggs upon. That is a symbiotic relationship. The Mites are transported to a new food supply, and the progeny of the Burying Beetles don’t have to compete with the Maggots for a food supply. If this is a Dung Beetle as we suspect, the mites may be using the beetle for transportation, but we suspect, because of their location, that they may be parasitic. We would really need an expert opinion on this matter.

Dung Beetle with Mites: Passengers

Letter from the previous day with additional information
Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 8:14 PM parasitic arthropods on beetle
Hi, again! I thought I had sent pictures of this large beetle with what appear to be parasites infesting it. Are the smaller “bugs” on the ventral surface of the beetle ticks? They are very tiny, but . . . kind of icky. And can you help me identify the beetle. They are common during certain times of the year here in the highland rainforests of Costa Rica. They are attracted to lights at night and often bash into window with a loud “bam!” If I go outside I can collect a few to feed to my coatimundi the next day.
Mary Thorman
1100 – 1200 meters altitude, southwestern Costa Rica

Update: From Eric Eaton
Daniel:
The Costa Rican dung beetle is probably in the genus Dichotomius (we have at least one species in the U.S.). Those are indeed phoretic (hitchhiking) mites on it.
Eric

Update: Costa Rican Dung Beetle with Phoretic Mites
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Hi Daniel:
Further to Eric’s comments, there are several species of Dichotomius in Costa Rica; D. annae appears to be a very close match. A brown coloration in the posterior portion of the striations on the elytra is characteristic of the species. This feature seems evident in Mary’s photo, although it looks confusingly like the dirt on other parts of the beetle. Regards.
Karl

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Bug orgy in yellow flower
Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 8:25 AM
I JUST MADE A DONATION
Photographed in the Langeberg Range in South Africa in montane fynbos ecosystem. Photo is attached
Brett
Langeberg Range in South Africa

Flower Scarabs

Hi Again Brett,
Thanks for the donation. As you may realize, we are a very small operation and we cannot post nor answer every letter that is submitted to our site. We believe these are some species of Flower Scarab in the tribe Trichiini or at least in the Subfamily Cetoniinae , but we don’t have access to many guides of South African insects, so exact identification is beyond our capabilities. You can search the North American BugGuide section on Trichiini to get additional information.

Update:
Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Hi Daniel:
These look like Monkey Beetles (Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Hopliini), which occur almost exclusively in South Africa. They are pollen feeders and important pollinators. Atypically for beetles, Monkey Beetles are attracted to host flowers visually, not by scent, and they have co-evolved a very close relationship with a number of plant species. Many host plants rely almost exclusively on these beetles for pollination, in some cases on a single beetle species. Host flowers are typically bright yellow, orange or red and many have ‘beetle marks’, distinctive color marks that have been shown to attract Monkey Beetles. Many species are gregarious and aggregations (as in Brett’s photo) are common. As a group, Monkey Beetles are surprisingly diverse given their limited range, and I was not able to make a more precise identification. Regards.
Karl

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