Small pair of well camouflaged beetled
Location: Cherokee County, NC
May 4, 2011 9:16 pm
Hello again, seems I have another insect needing a proper name.
Found these two beetled a few days ago slowly making their way up a persimmon tree. The one on top of each photograph took the lead, and the other followed behind for a few minutes.
A small ovipositor-like organ emerged from time to time from the upper beetle’s abdomen, and was probing the cracks and crevices in the tree bark.
I think they might be click beetles, but I’m not entirely certain. Their eyes seem larger than most of the ones I’ve seen, and their shells a little stockier. I didn’t want to disturb them, so I left them alone, and several hours later they were gone.
Signature: Jacob

Metallic Borer Beetles

Hi Jacob,
These are Metallic Borer Beetles in the family Buprestidae.  The larvae are known as Flat Headed Borers.  We decided to do a web search of Buprestidae and Persimmon and we believe we correctly identified your beetles as Obscure Dicerca on the Beetles in the Bush website.  Here is a lengthy and descriptive excerpt from that site:  “During my recent trip to northwestern Oklahoma, we visited Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area, a 17,000-acre chunk of land containing mixed-grass prairie, shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) shrublands, and mesic woodlands along the South Canadian River.  In one of these woodlands, I encountered a small grove of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) trees – some of which had recently died.  Whenever I see dead persimmons, I immediately think of the jewel beetle species, Dicerca obscura (family Buprestidae).  This attractive species is one of the larger jewel beetles occurring in our country, and although it is fairly commonly encountered in collections, seeing the living beetles in the field is always a treat.  Dicerca obscura is most commonly associated with persimmon, from which I have reared it on several occasions, but Knull (1920) also recorded rearing it from staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina).  I began inspecting the dead trees for the presence of the beetles but didn’t see any at first.  Then, I saw something moving right where I had been looking.  I had, in fact, looked right over this beetle without seeing it – even though I knew what could be there and what it looked like.  I don’t know if the species name (from the Latin obscurus, meaning indistinct) was actually given because of its marvelous cryptic abilities, but it certainly could have been.  As I continued to inspect the trees more closely, I found several additional adults – all sitting on trunks that I had just inspected a few minutes prior.   …  However, in the context of their environment, their coloration and sculpturing helps them blend in and become almost invisible.”

Thank you for the ID, that excerpt described the little fellows perfectly.

unknown cool-looking bug
Location: Malaysia
March 26, 2011 1:07 pm
I chanced upon this bug at around ten at night. The manner in which it was flying initially reminded me of a firefly, which was laidback and unhurried. It was, however, bigger than a firefly. I’d say that it was in the range of 6 to 7 centimetres, or approximately 3 inches, in length. I would love to know what it’s called, so please help!
Signature: earthquakeduck

Metallic Wood Borer

Dear earthquakeduck,
This is a Metallic Wood Boring Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and they are commonly called Jewel Beetles because of their coloration and markings.  We will try to identify your species.  We did a bit more searching and we believe your beetle may be Chrysochroa bouqueti based on the Buprestidae of Indo-Malaysia, Indochina and Philippines website.

3   I like This

what is it

Jewel Beetle

what is it
Location: Forbes NSW Australia
January 13, 2011 5:46 am
found this bug and every one i know even people who have lived in this area all there lives have never seen one before
help me bugman
Signature: Gavin Montgomery

Jewel Beetle

Dear Gavin,
This beautiful beetle is a Metallic Borer Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and its members, because of the gorgeous coloration many of them possess, are known as Jewel Beetles.  We became obsessed with fining you a species identification, and we must have individually clicked through hundreds of images on the Insect Reference Collection Database (ICDB) of an Australian Government Agriculture website dedicated to beetles before we found an image of Themognatha westwoodi which appears to be an exact match for your beetle.  Alas, a great source for identifying Australian Beetles, Allen Sundholm’s Buprestidae Home Page, now comes up with the message:  “Forbidden You don’t have permission to access.”  Allen Sundholm was quite liberal with his identification assistance in the past, but we no longer know how to contact him.  More information on Australian Jewel Beetle can still be found on the Brisbane Insect Website.

Jewel Beetle

fantastic thank you very much for identifying this beautiful bug
can you tell me any thing about it?
is it common to my part of australia ect
thank you
Gavinb

Hi again Gavin,
We struggled to identify this beetle, and once we found a match, we were not able to find any additional information on the actual species online.  You may try searching some of the commercial companies that sell specimens.  Rarer specimens would theoretically cost more to collectors. In  more general sense, the larvae of Jewel Beetles in the family Buprestidae are called Flathead Borers and some species remain in the larval stage for several years.  Some species are limited to a single host plant species.  It is also not at all unusual that some species from remote locations are documented only from the adult stage known as the imago, and that there is no documentation of the life cycle.