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Fire Colored BeetlesBug with wispy secondary set of antenna
May 27, 2010
Dear WhatsThatBug,
I found this interesting little guy on the ceiling in my kitchen. It is currently Spring where I live and the outside temp is about 80 degrees. I took some pictures after I caught him in a jar and then a few outside when he was released. I found him to be especially intriguing due to the fact that he has a small pair of antenna and then large ones that I would describe as feather-like. Initially I thought they were wings coming of his head, but upon closer inspection I saw they were whispy thin antler-like antenna. So please tell me…What’s that bug?
Kari
New Jersey
Fire Colored Beetle
Hi Kari,
What gorgeous images of a Fire Colored Beetle, Dendroides concolor. Here is what BugGuide has to say: “Adults are active at night, and may be attracted to lights. Some species may be attracted to fermenting baits. Male pyrochroid beetles seek out blister beetles, climb onto them and lick off the cantharidin the blister beetles exude. Not only have these beetles developed a resistance to the cantharidin, they use the blistering agent to impress a female of their own species who then mates with them, whereupon most of the cantharidin is transfered to the female in the form of a sperm packet. The eggs the female subsequently lays are coated with cantharidin to protect them from being eaten before they hatch.
… Jim McClarin”
Fire Colored Beetle
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