I used your web site to find out the name of the bugs that recently arrived in our backyard. The Green Fruit Beetles don’t seem to mind sharing this peach . We live in Brea Ca. and this is the first time in ten years we have seen these beetles in our yard and on our peach tree. Thanks for the info .
Kind Regards
Dudley Michael

Hi Dudley,
Peach? What Peach? This photo is pretty awesome. We have started seeing the Green Fruit Beetle or Figeater recently this summer. They make their appearance in August and September and they fly noisily and lazily about. The grubs can often be found in compost piles.
¶ Posted 10 August 2006 § ‡ ° Bicolor Tortoise Beetle (caught in the act!)
Hi bugman!
I really enjoy your web site and thought I’d share my latest bug experience with you! I found this goldbug crawling on my screen door in SW Ohio the other day. I had heard that some tortoise beetles can change colors, so I was excited to determine weather or not this one could change his color too. At the time, he didn’t seem very colorful at all but I decided to pop him in a jar with a morning glory leaf anyway and see if his color changed at all. Well I must say, the color change was quite dramatic to say the least! This little bug can change from a brilliant gold color (while happily munching on his favorite food) to a ladybug color (when annoyed) in an instant! You’ll be happy to know that after his "photo shoot", Mr. Goldbug was allowed to return to his real home out in the yard. Enjoy the attached photos!
sherry

Hi Sherry,
Thank you so much for sending in this dramatic documentation of a Golden Tortoise Beetle, Charidotella sexpunctata according to BugGuide, changing colors. This is the widely spread subspecies Charidotella sexpunctata bicolor and it does feed on morning glories. It is also commonly called the Goldbug.
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¶ Posted 09 August 2006 § ‡ ° Help with bug / beetle ID?
I’ve never noticed any bug like this before but this one was on the cement block of my home just behind the rose bushes on July 30th of this year. I live in north central Ohio. Any ideas of what it may be? Sorry the pictures aren’t so clear, I’m having difficulty with that lately. Thanks for any info.
Jill Johns
Ashland, OH

Hi Jill,
This is a Margined Blister Beetle.
¶ Posted 09 August 2006 § ‡ ° thought that you might know what this bug is
Gentlemen:
I saw your ad in an airplane and took this picture to see if you might know what it is. This showed up on the back screen door during a rainstorm in the evening a few weeks ago in Ohio. Great website. Thanks,
Bill.

Hi Bill,
This is a male Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus. He is harmless. What, pray tell, do you mean by “saw your ad in an airplane”? We are not advertising, and we are more than curious about the ad appearing in an airplane. Please clarify.
¶ Posted 09 August 2006 § ‡ ° Please Identify
I live in Central Arizona. I traveled to Lake Roosevelt to put my boat in the lake and I found hundreds, if not thousands of these crawling, climbing and flying around the storage yard. It was horribly hot that day, roughly 105. these bugs seemed to stay in the sun. some of the bugs were eating leaves and the rest seemed interested in procreation only. The elevation was roughly 1300′ above sea level. The time of year was early May. The terrain was desert. Surrounding vegetation is short bushes and some mesquite trees, with little ground cover.
Thanks,
Jim Scott

Hi Jim,
Your Iron Cross Blister Beetle mating frenzy is a nice addition to our Bug Love pages. These Blister Beetles are one of two possible species in the genus Tegrodera. It is most likely Tegrodera latecincta.
HELP! What is this bug!?
What is this little green pest? They come here in the mid-west every year around August. There are hundreds of them and they are eating all of my flowers and destroying my garden- especially my petunias and begonias! Help, what are they? Some sort of Aphid? How do I get rid of them? Thanks!

This is one of the Skeletonizing Leaf Beetles. Our suspicion is that it is the Northern Corn Rootworm, Diabrotica barberi, or a very closely related species. The larvae feed on the roots of corn, and the adults skeletonize leaves and blossoms.
¶ Posted 08 August 2006 § ‡ ° moth or not?
Hi,
The black & white moth like thing was near my house in Houston TX and the other on the upper side of the picutre was about 11⁄2 in. long if not longer and came out of the sand pile at the bottom of the picutre. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have 3 kids going in and out of the house and in the back yard. Thanks,
So

Hi There So,
This image is not a moth, but an Eyed Elater, a species of Click Beetle, so named beause of the ability to flip themselves onto their feet if caught on their backs which produces a clicking noise. The flying insect is a Cicada Killer, the subject of countless recent letters, many from Texas, as also the subject of its own information page on our site.
¶ Posted 08 August 2006 § ‡ ° Name that Beetle
I just discovered your wonderful website while I was trying to identify the mating beetles sharing the thistle with a Black Swallowtail. The picture was taken last summer just out side Madison WI. Are these a Pennsylvania leather-wings?
Bill Ottinger


Hi Bill,
You are absolutely correct. The mating Pennsylvania Leatherwings are common beetles found on roadside flowers, especially goldenrod.