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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

False Bombadier Beetle

please identify this bug
March 15, 2010
I found this in my jacket! I don’t want to kill it if it is harmless or useful.
Celeste
Charlotte, North Carolina

False Bombadier Beetle

Hi Celeste,
This is a False Bombadier Beetle in the genus Galerita.  According to BugGuide, the False Bombadier Beetles can be distinguished from the true Bombadier Beetles by the “Large size, blue/black striated elytra, brown pronotum, legs, palpi. Head black, unlike the bombadiers, Brachinus, which have a brown head, and are usually smaller (4-15 mm).“  False Bombadier Beetles are beneficial predators with a unique defense mechanism.  According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States of America website: “The carabid beetle Galerita lecontei has a pair of abdominal defensive glands that secrete a mixture of formic acid, acetic acid, and lipophilic components (long-chain hydrocarbons and esters). Formic acid, at the concentration of 80%, is the principal constituent. The beetle ejects the secretion as a spray, which it aims accurately toward parts of the body subjected to assault. At full capacity, the glands store 4.5 mg of formic acid (3% of body mass), enough for upward of six ejections.”

Posted 17 March 2010 § Ground Beetles ‡ Comments (1) °

Elephant Beetle from Costa Rica: Megasoma elephas

Big Costa Rican Beetle
March 15, 2010
A friend of mine is in Costa Rica and found this on his tool box yesterday (March 14, 2010. You can see that it is quite large! I am so curious–what is it, what does it eat, do they bite humans? How long do they live
Kat D.
Costa Rica

Elephant Beetle

Hi Kat,
This magnificent Elephant Beetle, Megasoma elephas does not bite.  Encyclopedia Britannica is a source for the common name Elephant Beetle.  The grubs feed on rotting wood, and the adults .  The Natural Worlds website has some nice photos, and according to the Absolute Astronomy website:  “For their diet, Elephant Beetles eat the sap of particular trees and ripened fallen fruits such as pineapples. They also eat longan, lychee fruit, and bark from certain trees like the poinciana.”

Thank you so much!  I love Whatsthatbug.com.   Very cool!
K

Posted 16 March 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles

Midwest beetle??
March 14, 2010
Can you identify this? I live near Chicago. I’m noticing these in the winter season, near one of our windows, but inside. There must be 50 of them lying on the window paine or carpet. They seem to dead, some w/ their “wings” sprouted and others as you see in the pic. I’d like to know how I can prevent these from being in my house.
Thanks in advance
Vik
Midwest – Chicago suburbs

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles

Hi Vik,
Now that you know that these are Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles, and introduced species that often seeks shelter indoors to hibernate, you should be able to locate copious information online.

Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetle

Posted 15 March 2010 § Lady Bug ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mango Flower Beetle

Plant-eating beetle found on citrus
March 13, 2010
Hello,
I found this bug and 20 of his friends on some new stems from a citrus tree I have in my backyard.
It appears to be eating the new shoots and flowers.
All have the same speckled carapace, and measure about 1.5cm long.
They looks almost like an African Black Beetle in form, but a bit bulkier.
Hope you can help me!
Christian
Sydney, Australia

Mango Flower Beetle

Hi Christian,
Your beetle is a Scarab known as the Mango Flower Beetle or Mottled Flower Scarab, Protaetia fusca.  We quickly located it on the Brisbane Insect Website. We located a pdf with much information on this species.

Posted 13 March 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Longhorned Borer From Costa Rica

Beetle ID
March 12, 2010
Hi
Trying to get an ID on this beetle from Costa Rica.
I’m not very familiar with my bugs and wouldn’t know where to start looking.
So here I am.
Alex
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Longhorned Borer Beetle

Hi Alex,
WE are not certain which of the Longhorned Borer Beetles in the subfamily Prioninae you have submitted.  It may be Callipogon barbatus, though a dorsal view photograph of the entire specimen might be necessary to be certain of the identification.

Thanx Daniel
For taking the time to try and help me ID this beetle. You’ve at least put me on the right track.
I found two more photos which may help you be more certain of your ID.
I see many similarities between the Callipogon barbatus that you suggested but also many differences.
Thank you again
-Alex

Root Borer from Costa Rica

Hi again Alex,
Thanks for sending additional photos.  This will probably help immensely in identifying this Root Borer, though we need to go to the market to buy dinner before we do any additional research.

Root Borer from Costa Rica

Hi Daniel and Alex:
These are lovely shots of what I believe is a Mallodon spinibarbis (Prioninae:  Mallodontini). It could also be M. molarius, but I think that is less likely. It ranges from Mexico to South America as far down as Argentina. You could also check out the Worldwide Cerambycoidea Photo Gallery, which has several images of this species, as well as several other Mallodon species that occur in Costa Rica.  I will be visiting the Osa Peninsula next week so this helps to get me pumped (as if I needed it). Thanks.
Karl

Thanks Karl,
You appear to have nailed it again.

Thank you both.
Karl I just got back from Osa it was fantastic but SO HOT!!!!!
Heres a link to a few photos I took while there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84131087@N00/sets/72157623321583931/
Have fun. I wish I was headed back!
-Alex

Posted 13 March 2010 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Western Banded Glowworm

Very strange bug
March 11, 2010
This bug has an exo-type skeleton, is centipede like, but only has legs towards the front of its body – looks like six. It rolls up when scared. It’s black with beigeish- yellow in between segments. It’s segmented like a critter from the sea.
Gualala Ridge Farms
Gualala, Northern California Coast

Western Banded Glowworm

Dear Gualala Ridge Farms,
We believe this is the first letter we have ever received from a piece of real estate.  This is a larviform female Western Banded Glowworm, or perhaps it is an immature larva.  The species is sexually dimorphic, which means that the winged males look nothing like the females which resemble larvae.  When we posted a photo of a female Western Banded Glowworm in 2004, Eric Eaton wrote in the following comment:
“Dear Daniel:
Whoah! Tell him to turn out the lights and he’ll get a real surprise:-) That sure looks like a larviform female of the glowworm, Zarhipis integripennis. In fact, I think we still need a shot of this for our field guide…. They feed exclusively on millipedes, so he could conceivably keep her in a terrarium with some soil and leaf litter and add a millipede or two….He could also take her outside some evening and see if she attracts any males (which ARE beetle-like, fly, and have these amazing feathery antennae). She will glow bright greenish-yellow from the pale membranes between her segments. Thanks for sharing! Makes my day:-)
Happy holidays to you.
Sincerely,
Eric”

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for the response.  My son, Dylan, who is 7, is thrilled to know we have glow worms on our property.  The next one we find, we will try the millipede experiment.  It is pouring rain today so we let her go where we found her.  I know Dylan will be gathering millipedes in soil until we find the next glow worm.  As soon as he read your email he turned off all of the lights in the house, but we did not see a glow, so we decided to let her go.
Thanks again for your website and your response.  Young bugologists such as my 2 kids love looking up bugs on your site when we find them.
Cindy

Thanks for the followup Cindy.  The Featured Creatures website also has some great information.

Posted 12 March 2010 § Fireflies and Glowworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Darkling Beetle from Afghanistan: Adesmia karelini

Afghanistan, fast moving blue/gray beetle with large hind legs
March 10, 2010
Greetings!
First, I just want to say I’ve been a huge fan of your site for neigh on 4 years now. I suppose my wife and I are odd for laying in bed at 03:00 in the morning, drinking wine and reading the backlog of “What’s That Bug” for entertainment, but then I never claimed to be normal.
So, on to my request! I am in southern Zabul Province, Afghanistan… I found the little guy pictured below scurrying around VERY rapidly in broad daylight and quite unafraid. The terrain is mostly sparse, high desert scrubland. What struck me were his enlarged hind legs and the gorgeous blue/gray mottled exoskeleton. To be honest, he appeared to be hunting. These photos were taken today, March 10, 2010.
In any event, thanks again for everything you’re doing, you’ve at least helped me to appreciate the insect world far more than I would have without you. I look forward to your book.
Devon in Afghanistan
Southern Zabul Province, Afghanistan

Darkling Beetle

Hi Devon,
Thanks so much for your very kind letter.  We believe your beetle is a Darkling Beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, though we will contact Eric Eaton to verify that.  We suspect it might not be a quick or easy matter to identify the species.  Meanwhile, you may read a bit about the North American members of the Darkling Beetle family on BugGuide.  Though the coloration of your specimen is quite different, there are basic anatomical similarities to the members of the tribe Amphidorini which includes the Acrobat Beetles in the genus Eleodes.  Perhaps one of our readers will have better success with finding some online information and a species identification.

Darkling Beetle

Hi Daniel and Devon:
I agree that it is a Darkling Beetle and I believe the genus is probably Adesmia. As far as I can tell there are three species in Afghanistan (A. karelini, A. jugalis and A. servillei). I was only able to find online photos of A. karelini, but it looks very close. On a personal note, I want to thank you Daniel and WTB? for getting me through yet another long winter. Next week I am off to Costa Rica (!!!) for a ‘bug’ vacation with my new macro lens, and with a bit of luck it may be spring when I get back! Regards.
Karl

Posted 11 March 2010 § Darkling and Ironclad Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Two Rove Beetles: Water Skater and Crablike Rove Beetle

Minuscule Rove Beetles(?) in Oklahoma!!!
March 5, 2010
Hi,
Today I found these tiny beetles in my pool (in central Ok.). I think that they were rove beetles, but I’m not sure. They were both about 2mm in length, with long, thin abdomens. One had a head that definitely looked like a rove beetles, but the other had a more rounded head with smaller eyes. Their elytra did not cover their abdomens and they would both periodically retract their wings. One was black and the other was dark brown. Since I found them in my pool I don’t know what kind of habitat they would normally be living in. Thanks for any help you can provide in identifying these little guys.
Josh Kouri

Rove Beetles

Update
March 8, 2010
Hi,
Several days ago I sent you some pictures of rove beetles that I found. After I sent you the pictures I decided to check BugGuide and I think I might have Identified them myself. I think that the black one with the more rove beetle-like head is a species of water skater. The other one looks like a crab-like rove beetle, possibly /Byroporus rufescens. /I’m not sure that those I.D.s are correct, but they are my best guess. Thanks,
Josh

Water Skater Rove Beetle

Hi Josh,
Sorry we did not respond to your original letter, but we have been very busy, and the quantity of mail and identification requests is beginning to increase with the approach of spring.  Thank you for taking the time to research the identities on your own.  We know that searching through the incredibly well organized archives of BugGuide can be a daunting task.  We agree that based on images posted to BugGuide, one of your Rove Beetles is a Water Skater.  The images on BugGuide of the Crablike Rove Beetle Byroporus rufescens also resembles your photograph.  We concur with the identifications you have made, at least to the family level.

Crablike Rove Beetle

Posted 10 March 2010 § Rove Beetles ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Dung Beetle from South Africa

Huge black screaming beetle found in road
March 7, 2010
A friend found this beetle in Gezina, Pretoria, South Africa, last night (6 March 2010). It was screaming so loudly that he was able to hear it from inside his shop, so he went out to investigate, thinking that it was a bat that had been injured. It is missing some legs, but can still hobble around. I have looked around on the Internet and from what I have found, it seems to be some kind of dung beetle – the flightless one? Not sure, though, because it seems to me not as smooth as the flightless dung beetle, and its head and “shoulders” seem a bit different. The head is flat, and from when I held it in my hand and it got the head in between my fingers, I know that it must be quite strong, because it was able to push my fingers apart with the head.
Kirsten Eksteen, Pretoria, South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa (in the part of Pretoria called “The Moot”)

Giant Dung Beetle

Hi Kirsten,
We did a bit of research by web searching “largest beetles in Africa” and we found what appeared to be a match on the Beetles of Africa website, a commercial site for collectors.  There are several views of Heliocopris faunus that are called Giant Dung Beetles.  We double checked that identification, and found similar images for the genus Heliocopris on the Encyclopedia of Life website.  The God of Insects website, another commercial site, has images of the Elephant Dung Beetle, Heliocopris dominus, that also look similar to your specimen, which is most likely a female.  Many Scarab Beetles, the family that includes the Giant Dung Beetles, are able to make sounds, termed stridulation, but rubbing parts of their bodies together.

Giant Dung Beetle

Dear Daniel
Thanks for your unexpectedly speedy response! (seeing that it is Sunday, I didn’t expect to hear from you until at least tomorrow afternoon).
I appreciate the information and will go and investigate the sites that you have sent me.  Thanks, also, for saying that it is probably a female, and for giving me the correct word for the sound that she made.
By the way, I had a good chuckle about the “Just to prove you are a human being” part of your web page:  I wrote “White (when it’s clean!)”, to which the system replied, “Please double-check you verification code”.  In other words, “Prove that you are human by giving me a one-word answer;  I am not interested in whether or not you are witty or can think further than the obvious.”  That’s machines for you, eh?
Sincerely
Kirsten.

Posted 07 March 2010 § Scarab Beetles ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Winter Firefly

Unknown Beetle Southern NH
March 6, 2010
I found this beetle outside today. It was just sitting on a rock. It was about 50 F today, the warmest it’s been for many months here in southern NH. I’d like to know what type of beetle it is. Also, I’d like to know what it eats. In the future I’d like a method to identify bugs like this. I looked at a web-site bugguide.net which has a lot of information but it is quite difficult to sort through. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Sophie
Southern NH

Winter Firefly

Hi Sophie,
WE believe we have identified your Winter Firefly, Ellychnia corrusca, on BugGuide.  The time of year is one of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting the identification.  BugGuide’s Data page has information on sightings at various times of the year.

Winter Firefly

Posted 06 March 2010 § Fireflies and Glowworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Rove Beetle from Austria: Staphylinus caesareus

Odd looking insect
March 6, 2010
Greetings, on my summer holiday (July 2009)I found this insect crawling on the ground. It was about an inch long. Here’s hoping you can tell me what this is because it’s been bugging me ever since I took the photo with my mobile phone. Only one picture was reasonable, the rest are all vague but I added one because it shows some more detail on the head.
Thank you for your time.
Henk de Vries, The Netherlands
Carinthia, Austria

Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus

Hi Henk,
This is a Rove Beetle in the family Staphylinidae.  We will try to get a species identification when we have more time.

Rove Beetle: Staphylinus caesareus

Comment:
This is Staphylinus caesareus.
mardikavana

Thanks for the comment mardikavana.  We found a link on Wild About Britain that pictures and describes Staphylinus caesareus.  We also found a matching photo on BioLib.  Rove Beetles are important predators that help to control populations of invertebrates.

Posted 06 March 2010 § Rove Beetles ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Blurry Dots: Pantry Beetles or Carpet Beetles, perhaps

dark borwn bug small like a lady bug with white dots on and wings.
March 4, 2010
i keep finding them round my room, sometimes on the wall but i have found one in the car. They are really starting to freak me out and was hoping you could tell me what they are.
Help
Bedroom

Blurry Dots or possibly Pantry Beetles

Dear (not terribly) Help(ful),
We believe you may need more help than we are able to provide.  A bedroom and a car are not really geographical locations in any way that would provide us with the information we requested in terms of geography, and your photo is pretty much useless for any identification purposes.  We can only surmise that you probably have either Pantry Beetles or Carpet Beetles, or perhaps even both.

Posted 06 March 2010 § Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

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