Big Yellow Beetle (Specifics Needed)
Sun, May 24, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Dear What’s That Bug,
My family was enjoying a walk through town recently when the youngest of us stumbled across this bumbling bug. Physiologically this looks like a typical Junebug, but the extraordinary colors seem to say different. Is this a special type of Junebug, or just a rare color morph?
Backyard Entomologist
Central Massachusetts, Suburban
Goldsmith Beetle
Dear Backyard Entomologist,
The Goldsmith Beetle, Cotalpa lanigera, is also known as a Gold bug, and according to BugGuide “This was supposedly Poe’s Gold-bug , according to the account at Clemson .” BugGuide also indicates: “Adults feed on willow, poplar foliage” and “Female scatters eggs on soil near a tree. Larvae burrow to reach their food source, rotting logs and roots. They pupate at the end of one or two years in earthen cells.” BugGuide also states “This beetle is usually listed as uncommon.” This is a very exciting posting for us, both because of the rarity of the Goldsmith Beetle, and because of the Poe reference for the Gold Bug.
Goldsmith Beetle
I like This
The entomologist at our cooperative extension service referred me to you website after I sent him a detailed description of a beetle I found. I clicked on the link he sent me, and there was a beautiful picture of “my” beetle! I found mine one night last week on the doorstep of a convenience store in South Paris, Maine, where I suspect it had been attracted by the lights. My first guess was that it was a scarab beetle, and except for the striking color, it looked to me for all the world like the Pelidnota punctata or grape leaf beetle, which I remember my sister discovering years ago. (It sat in a display case in our house along with other natural wonders for years, and so got etched in my memory.) Turns out I wasn’t far off! Now that I know it is uncommon and not likely to be a major threat, I will feel free to let it go. Thank you so much for your helpful website – I will keep it in mind the next time I need to identify an unfamiliar creepy-crawly!