Skip to content

Category Archives: Metallic Borer Beetles   rss

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Metallic Wood Boring Beetle from Turkey

Boring Beetle? – Turkey
Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 11:39 AM
We saw these flying rather loudly around willow trees near a stream north of Gaziantep, Turkey. They were quite active and a bit skittish but once I caught one it calmed down long enough for me to get a photo. It’s about an inch and a half long or a little more.
kipouros
Gaziantep/Araban Prefecture/Turkey

Mediterranean Flathead Woodborer

Mediterranean Flathead Woodborer

Dear kipouros,
Many years ago we identified a very similar Buprestid, or Metallic Wood Boring Beetle from Italy.  We believe it is the same species, Capnodis tenebrionis which goes by the common name Mediterranean Flathead Woodborer. The adults feed on the leaves of apricot trees, almond trees and other stone fruits. The larvae bore into the roots and cause great damage.  We located a fine website with information and photos.

Posted 23 April 2009 § ‡ Comments (1) °

Cucuya or Click Beetle from Ecuador and a Tailless Whipscorpion Too!!!

Beetle from Cloud forest in Ecuadorian Andes
Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM
We just got back from Milpe in Ecuador (elevation 1500 meters) and came across this beautiful beetle. Can you ID?
BTW. We saw an almost identical Scorpion bug in the Amazon as the one noted in Thailand. I am attaching pic. Amazing how they can be found in areas so far away from each other.
Mtnchk
Milpe Ecuador

Buprestid? or Elaterid?

Click Beetle: genus Semiotus

Dear Mtnchk,
We not be able to ever get you a definitive species identification on your beetle, but first we need to start with the family. We are not sure if your beetle is a Jewel Beetle (AKA Metallic Wood Boring Beetle) in the family Buprestidae, or a Click Beetle in the family Elateridae. Our first thought was a Buprestid because of the coloration, but the thoracic area has us inclined to speculate that this is an Elaterid. Click Beetles get their common name from their ability to snap their bodies at the junction of the thorax and abdomen. If the beetle finds itself on its back, this ability allows it to right itself by snapping its body against the hard ground, propelling the beetle high into the air and producing an audible clicking sound. Most North American Click Beetles are drab in coloration, but some tropical species are brightly colored. We hope one of our expert contributors will be able to at least narrow the family and perhaps identify the species.

Tailless Whipscorpion

Tailless Whipscorpion

Also, thanks for including your Ecuadorean example of a Tailless Whipscorpion.

Update: from Eric Eaton
Hi, Daniel:
It is indeed a click beetle, in the genus Semiotus. The whole genus is quite colorful!
Eric

Dear Daniel,
This is fantastic. I really appreciate your quick and thorough response. What a great website you have and I have actually given you a very positive rating as a new website for “Stumble upon” where I was when I came upon your website. I hope this gives you many more hits which lead to some financial gains- you certainly deserve it!
Mtnchk (Rebecca

Update:
Hi Daniel
It goes by the common name ‘Cucuya’ in Ecuador and it is a click beetle (family Elateridae); probably Semiotus illigeri. It occurs in Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia and Ecuador. Semiotus is a large neotropical genus with 31 representatives in Ecuador. Images are hard to find but the ‘Natural History Museum of Los Angeles’ has posted a report on the genus that includes numerous distribution maps and excellent color plates (look for Figure 227). Regards.
Karl
http://www.nhm.org/research/publications/Contributions_in_Science/CS514.pdf

Posted 11 February 2009 § Click Beetles § Scorpions, Whipscorpions and Vinegaroons ‡ Comments (0) °

Metallic Borer Beetle from Iran

Green Buprestid from Iran
Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 6:47 AM
Green Buprestid from Iran
Hi,
Thanks for this very nice and informative website,
One of friends gave me this lovely buprestid. It had a very brilliant, Emerald green color but after pinning (Really tough work to get through the elytra, you all know!) its just pale metallic green. I just want to know its scientific name.
Yours, Mohsen Arooni,
Tehran, Iran

Metallic Borer Beetle

Metallic Borer Beetle

Hi Mohsen,
Many years ago we identified a similar looking Buprestid from Italy (if memory serves us correctly) but we are having problems locating that posting since our site migration in September. Perhaps it never made the transition. We are going to search through our old Dreamweaver files in an attempt to locate it. Meanwhile, perhaps one of our readers will write in with an identification.

Ed. note:
We spent a goodly portion of time searching our old website and found several postings that did not migrate, including the Mediterranean Flathead Woodborer from October 2003, but it looks nothing like this Buprestid.

Update: Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 6:18 AM
Daniel:
Maurizio Gigli maintains a terrific Jewel Beetle (family Buprestidae) website. Mohsen Arooni’s beetle is likely in the genus Julodis . It could be J. andreae or J. onopordi, but it looks more like J. ampliata. Their geographic distributions are somewhat different. I assumed this one was from Iran, but I also thought that it might just be the location of the poster. Knowing the origin of the specimen may be helpful. Regards.
Karl

http://utenti.romascuola.net/bups/jewel.htm

Posted 13 January 2009 § ‡ Comments (1) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Flat Headed Borer Grub

White worm w/ odd head
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 8:50 AM
White worm w/ odd head
Hi. Two of these worms have come off the firewood in the last couple days, here in PA. Just wondering what they are. The picture should provide a lot of info.
Thanks!!
Diane B.
SE Pennsylvania

Flat Headed Borer Grub

Flat Headed Borer Grub

Hi Diane,
This is a Flat Headed Borer Grub in the family Buprestidae, known as the Metallic Wood Borers or Jewel Beetles.  You can match your photo to one we located on a Forestry Images website or to the images on BugGuide. Many of the adult beetles are quite gorgeous and are sometimes made into jewelry in tropical counties.  Sadly, we are not skilled enough to tell you the exact species.  Flat Headed Borers often live many years as grubs feeding on wood.  We have heard reports of the Golden Buprestid, Buprestis aurulenta, emerging from furniture 50 years after it was built.  You can confirm this online in numerous places including a Canadian Forestry site.  We have received our own report of an adult Golden Buprestid emerging from an 8 year old pine cutting board.  If your firewood is local, you have a different species of Flat Headed Borer as the Golden Buprestid is native to the Pacific Northwest.

Posted 11 January 2009 § Grubs ‡ Comments (0) °

Red Legged Buprestis

metallic borer?
Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 6:29 AM
Found this beauty on my deck. Think he is dead. Should I worry that he has left behind survivors that are eating my deck? It is pressure treated CCA pine. Thank you
Vicki
Elwood, Kansas

Red Legged Buprestis

Red Legged Buprestis

Buprestis rufipes

Posted 06 December 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Jewel Beetle

What’s that blue beetle?
Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Saw this great beetle with bright blue legs on 10/5/08 on the Crawford Trail at Dripping Springs just east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Only saw the one specimen and have tried identification without success. Would love to know what this beautiful specimen is.
JC
Las Cruces, New Mexico

Drummond's Blue-Footed Bup

Drummond

Hi JC,
We quickly located your Metallic Wood Boring Beetle or Jewel Beetle on BugGuide. It is Drummond’s Blue-footed Bup, Lampetis drummondi. According to BugGuide: “Range
Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas” and
“Season May to November, but most specimens in the Texas A&M University Insect Collection (TAMUIC) from June through August.” The Texas Beetle Information page lists host plants as Mesquite, Guajillo, Pecan and Chinese elm.

Posted 06 October 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer

Large, yellow, very impressive jungle beetle
The beast was huge – like a small cell phone. Brilliant yellow with prominent eye spots on the thorax. See picture. It landed on a friend and he now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress. Hope you can help and thanks if you do.
P.S. The specimen shed coloration from its wings when touched.
The Amazon (Ecuador)
N.R. ochs

Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer

Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer

Hi N.R.,
This is a most stunning photograph of a Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer, Euchroma gigantea, a species that is found in Central and South America.

Posted 22 September 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer in Jamaica

What type of Beetle is this?
Hi
I came across this bug in my front garden on the weekend, my mom thought it was a giant cockroach but when i got closer I realised it was some type of beetle. I live on the island of Jamaica in the middle of the capitol city Kingston. I am a National Geographic fan but had never seen this before and certainly not in my front yard?
Maria A. Hitchins

Hi Maria,
This is a Giant Metallic Ceiba Borer, Euchroma gigantea. It is found in many parts of Central and South America.

Posted 08 August 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Red Legged Buprestis

Flat-Headed Wood Borer
Hey Bugman,
I found a specimen of what I believe to be Buprestis rufipes, the Flat-Headed Wood Borer. This guy flew onto my shirt while I was in a park near Olney, Maryland. He is about 3/4 in long, and has spectacular grey, prisim eyes that are not visible in these pictures. Hope this will be a nice addition to your excellent website. From a fellow insect lover,
Drew Villeneuve

Hi Drew,
Thanks for your gorgeous photo of a Red Legged Buprestis.

Posted 27 July 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Metallic Wood Boring Beetle

Green gold speckled metallic bug
This little guy caught a ride halfway across Nebraska on the outside mirror of our truck a couple of days ago. We made a couple of stops and I had kind of forgotten about him, but I glanced out later, and there he was – clinging to the mirror with all six(?) legs, his feelers blowing in the 75 MPH breeze. We can’t find anything like him on the web – can you help? Love you site, by the way. And I finally found out what it was that I had collected years ago at my parents house in central Nebraska. I found a little roundish beetle-like bug dead on the ground. He had green metallic wing covers and a gold metallic shield-shaped head covering with a shiny black horn curling up over his back. A rainbow scarab! The pictures on your site were a spitting image. Thanks!
Bill Richman
Lincoln, Nebraska

Hi Bill,
We are very excited to post your little hitch-hiker. This is a Metallic Wood Boring Beetle, and we believe it is Buprestis confluenta, a new species for our site. Metallic Wood Boring Beetles are much prized by collectors for their beauty. They are also called Jewel Beetles and Flat Headed Borers. It is wonderful that your photo, thanks to the mirror, shows both the dorsal and ventral views.

Posted 09 July 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Golden Buprestid

What kind of beetle is this?
Hi there,
My family and I were at Government House in Victoria and this beetle landed on one of us. We haven’t been able to find it in a BC insect identification book. It looked similar to the Tiger Beetles on your web page but it had much shorter legs than those. It’s body had a very metallic sheen to it. Thanks for your help!

This beauty is a Golden Buprestid, Buprestis aurulenta, one of the Flat Headed Borers in the family Buprestidae.

Posted 23 June 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Unknown Greek Beetle

Bee-Like Beetle
Photographed in central Greece, May 2008. Behaved like a bee, too, buzzing and visiting flowers, but those sure look like elytra
David

Hi David,
We agree that those elytra indicate a beetle, but we are not certain what beetle. Our first guess is one of the Hairy Flower Scarabs in the Tribe Trichiini as shown on BugGuide. We will check if Eric Eaton has an opinion.

Update: (06/02/2008)
Hi, Daniel:
I suspect it is some kind of buprestid, but I agree that an ID may be impossible without more images to work from.
Eric

Posted 01 June 2008 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Page 2 of 4«1234»