Strange Costa Rican Bug
Location: Monteverde, Costa Rica
July 31, 2011 5:00 pm
Hi, would you please identify this bug for me. Seen at night in Costa Rica. I’ve never seen anything like it. Cheers
Signature: Laurence
Transvestite Rove Beetle
Hi Laurence,
We are positively thrilled to have received your photo of a Transvestite Rove Beetle, Leistotrophus versicolor. We originally received a similar identification request from Costa Rica last September, and you can read that entertaining posting here. Here is what Scrubmuncher’s Blog has to say about the Transvestite Rove Beetle: “Interestingly, there are even transvestite insects and the males of one of these species, a rove beetle from Central America, subtly imitate females as a means of getting access to and reproducing with bone-fide females. The transvestite rove beetle (Leistotrophus versicolor) is a denizen of the rain-forests of Costa Rica, where, like lots of other rove beetles, it makes a living by seeking out decaying plant and animal matter to feed on the adult insects and larvae that make use of these ephemeral resources. These honey-pots don’t last long in the super-charged biological activity of the hot and humid tropical forests, so when normal male rove beetles find them they guard them because they also attract females, allowing a male to assemble a harem. Males of this rove beetle are divided into two types, normal butch specimens and small, effeminate ones. The small, effeminate males can find honey-pots, but they have little hope of defending them against the bigger males, so their chances of building a harem are next to nothing. These males have evolved another means of making sure they pass their genes onto the next generation. They sneak past the normal males using their effeminate appearance as a disguise and under the harem owner’s nose they have it away with the females he has been so carefully guarding. This strategy is almost flawless, but now and again the transvestite male is caught prancing around in the harem by the owner male and the only way he can avoid being torn limb from limb is by assuring the aggressor of his femininity and giving in to a ‘mating’. One sore behind later, the transvestite male carries on sneakily copulating with the females in the harem, only slightly more nervous for his unpleasant experience. The duplicity of these beetles is not just limited to transvestism, as they can also produce odours that mimic the smell the rotting matter in order to attract prey, namely flies. The rotting matter these beetles depend on can often be hard to come by, so they need an alternative means of finding suitable prey. Within the tip of their abdomen these beetles have a pair of pygidial glands that can be popped out to smear an odorous secretion on a suitable platform, such as a leaf. Flies are drawn to this odour in the hope of finding some filth to feed on to lay their eggs on, so all the beetle has to do is to wait until a suitable victim scuttles within pouncing distance.” There are some nice matching photos on the American Insects website. Should you desire additional information, you can read about the “Post-copulatory aggression toward their mates by males of the rove beetle Leistotrophus versicolor (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)” in the online version of the Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
Update: August 20, 2011
Hi Daniel
Thanks very much for your response. I didn’t expect anything so detailed or interesting!
I don’t suppose you can say whether it’s a butch male or effeminate male / female?
Cheers
Laurence
We aren’t sure about the sexual traits of the Rove Beetle. Sorry.
Curious Beetle
Location: Cook County, Illinois
July 30, 2011 12:02 pm
The other day, I came across this beetle at work (donut shop, but it was in the lobby, between the entrance and the lavatory). Someone had already tried to step on it, but I scooped it up in a cup anyways, and set it in the bushes on the other side of the parking lot from the store. I took some pictures, and was just curious what this cute little critter might be.
From browsing your site, and the one you link to, I’m guessing it’s a bark gnawer of some kind. But I would like to know for certain.
Signature: Doctor McCrimmon
Female Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
Dear Doctor McCrimmon,
This is a female Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus. The larva feed on rotting wood. Hopefully, your good deed spared her from other stompers.
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Beautiful very large bug
Location: Central Nebraska – plains
July 30, 2011 3:33 pm
Here’s a photo of this giant bug that landed on my window screen here in central Nebraska yesterday morning. Though I’ve scoured the site trying to find one similar the only pic that came close was the Longicorn from Thailand and we’re a little far from there. lol
This guy is about 2” long, as big around as a woman’s pinky finger and has these amazing long antenna and legs! He has wings obviously since he flew onto the window screen but can climb and stick to anything he chooses.
Thanks for your help identifying him AND if you could please answer one question – what does he eat? I’d greatly appreciate knowing that answer.
thanks so much for you excellent information.
Signature: Marguerite
Cottonwood Borer
Hi Marguerite,
This is a Cottonwood Borer, Plectrodera scalator, one of the Longhorned Borer Beetles in the family Cerambycidae. Longhorned Borers are also called Longicorns, generally in French speaking countries, and Thailand was occupied by the French. It was astute of you to recognize the family resemblance. According to BugGuide: “Adults are reported to browse on shoots of host trees, especially leaf-stems (petioles), and bark.“ Try feeding this Cottonwood Borer young leaves from a cottonwood tree. Most of our reports come from Texas and Oklahoma, and you may be our first report from neighboring Nebraska.
Beetle in Vermont
Location: Saxtons River, VT
July 27, 2011 10:34 pm
Hi Daniel,
Wondering if you can identify this beetle? It was on my screen door tonight, in southeast Vermont. It was about 1.5” in length. Thanks!
Signature: K L Thalin
Brown Prionid
Dear K L Thalin,
This beautiful beetle is a Brown Prionid, Orthosoma brunneum, and it is one of a group known collectively at Root Borers. If you would like to see more about this stunning creature, you can check out BugGuide.
Cicada?
Location: Mogollon Rim, AZ
July 28, 2011 8:12 am
While camping in Mogollon Rim, AZ in July, we rolled over a log and found these bugs, so the images you’re seeing are upside down. These guys were hardly moving, but there were other slow-moving bugs (the black ones) boring into holes in the log. I’m interested in figuring out what these are and I appreciate your time to help in that effort.
Signature: Jenn
Fungus Beetle Pupae
Hi Jenn,
This is a real puzzle for us, but we believe we know what you encountered. These look like the Larvae and Pupae of Lady Beetles, commonly called Lady Bugs. Here is a photo of the Larvae and Pupae of a Twice Stabbed Lady Beetle from BugGuide, and though the match is not exact, we believe you should be able to note the similarities. We are going to tag this as a mystery because we cannot figure out why such a large number of Larval Lady Beetles would decide to pupate in such a large aggregation under a log. That does not seem characteristic of what we would expect. Perhaps we are wrong and they are not Lady Beetle Larvae and Pupae, but we are relatively certain that they are some other group of Beetles. We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he can provide an answer. We also want to continue searching to see if there is any documentation of such an occurrence elsewhere on the internet. Thank you so much for submitting this puzzling identification request.
Aggregation of Fungus Beetle Larvae and Pupae
Eric Eaton makes a correction
August 1, 2011
Daniel:
The beetle pupae are actually of the fungus beetle Gibbifer californicus.
Eric
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Japanese Bugs
Location: NE Japan
July 27, 2011 6:29 am
Hi Bugman
I’ve just come back from a two week trip in Japan and as well as seeing some amazing shrines and temples I saw some pretty awesome bug life that being resident in the UK where very alien to me (like the Giant Japanese Hornet for example and a (sadly dead) Japanese Rhinoceros beetle). I’ve managed to identify most of my pics of the critters I saw but was hoping you might be able to help out with the three pics below.
Love you website by the way
Signature: Michael
Carrion Beetle Larva
Hi Michael,
This is a larva, and they can often be extremely difficult to identify to the species level. We believe this is a Carrion Beetle Larva from the family Silphidae. Though it is a different species, it does look rather similar to this American Carrion Beetle Larva from BugGuide.
black beetle with white spots
Location: Waikiki Beach, HI
July 26, 2011 8:32 pm
I found a black beetle with white spots on the back. About the width of my thumb and the size of the upper digit of my thumb above the 10th floor on the balcony of my hotel on the beach of Waikiki.
It walked around with ease and flew quickly and strongly into the air above the balcony. Impressive.
I also heard a hard chatter kind of sound – perhaps wings vibrating? This just before it flew away but while still on the concrete surface.
Signature: Paul
Oriental Flower Beetle from Hawaii
Hi Paul,
This is some species of Scarab Beetle, but we did not have any luck matching it to any species found on Hawaii. Interestingly, the very comprehensive Insects of Hawaii website only lists two scarabs, which we find highly unusual. Since you are in Honolulu, there is a good chance this Scarab arrived with a tourist or with freight. Hawaii is populated with many invasive exotic species. We believe this Scarab may be in the subfamily Cetoniinae, the Fruit and Flower Chafers. We continued to research and we found a matching image under Hawaiian Insects on BugGuide, and it is identified as Protaetia orientalis. The Entophile website discusses this Invasive Exotic import as having been introduced to Hawaii prior to 2002. In another posting, Entophile cites the Bishop Museum regarding the Oriental Flower Beetle. BugNation has some images of swarms of Oriental Flower Beetles eating fruit.
Thank you for the quick tracking on this one. Sorry another invasive has found a home in Waikiki. Interesting beetle though.
Monster Beetle
Location: Western Pennsylvania
July 25, 2011 1:32 pm
I found this poor drownd beetle floatig in my swimming pool yesterday and I really want to know what it is because I have never seen anything like it before. It is huge, as you can see compared to the size of the fly. I have tried searching the internet, but couldnt find very much. Please note that I did not kill this bug. I was, in fact, trying to save its little life but it was dead when I found it.
Sorry 
Signature: LadyStardust
Male Broad Necked Root Borer
Dear LadyStardust,
We cannot get the picture out of our minds of you attempting CPR on this unfortunate male Broad Necked Root Borer, our Bug of the Month for July. The antennae of the male are much more developed than those of the female. The backyard swimming pool is one of the most deadly traps for insects and other arthropods, and you need not fear this posting getting tagged as Unnecessary Carnage. We understand that it was accidental drowning. It appears as though the Fly might be a Blow Fly in the genus Lucilia, which included the Green Bottle Fly (see BugGuide). Blow Flies are Stage One Colonizers of decomposing corpses in the increasingly popular field of forensic entomology thanks to all of the CSI style television shows (though Crossing Jordan may have set the stage for the field with “Bug” Ravi Kapoor) and high profile murder trials like that of Casey Anthony.
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