Beetle identification
Location: Jamaica
February 5, 2012 12:12 pm
Any chance I can get a definition and information about this type of beetle?
Photo taken in Jamaica, December 2011.
I am guessing but it is quite large, probably around 2 inches long.
Signature: Merrowain

Scarab Beetle from Jamaica

Dear Merrowain,
This is some species of Scarab Beetle in the family Scarabaeidae.  Our initial search has not produced a species match, but we will keep trying.

Karl tracks down the identification
Hi Daniel and Merrowain:
This scarab is one of the Fruit and Flower Chafers (Cetoniinae), specifically Gymnetis lanius. As far as I can tell the species is endemic to Jamaica, although there are four closely related sub-species found on other Caribbean islands (Cuba, Haiti, St. Lucia and Guadeloupe). The four black spots on the thorax are diagnostic for the species. I found out little else about the species, but here is a link to another online image.

Thank you both very much for the information. Greatly appreciated.

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ID pls
Location: Bannerghatta National park., Karnataka, south India
November 14, 2011 12:19 am
hi, i found this fellow in my place. place found was South India, Karantaka, Bangalore, Scrub forest Bannerghatta National park. pls can i know the common and scientific name of this fellow
Signature: rameshb belagere

Unknown Green Scarab Beetle

Dear rameshb belagere,
This is a Scarab Beetle in the family Scarabaeidae, but our initial search of the internet has not turned up a definitive species identification.  We believe it is the same species as this unidentified photo posted on vidarbha wildlife.  One of our readers may be able to assist in this identification.

Identification Courtesy of Karl
Hi Daniel and rameshb belagere:
I think you are right about the unidentified photo you linked to (on vidarbha wildlife). It looks like a Flower Chafer (Scarabeidae: Cetoniinae), probably Heterorrhina elegans. You can just make out the four black, raised bumps (calli, or singular callus) on the elytra that apparently are diagnostic for the species. Online images are scarce but a set of three appears on various sites, including Wikipedia. If you care to read a detailed description you can access an online version of the relevant volume (G. J. Arrow 1910) of “The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma”. The relevant text includes: “…the sutural margins of the elytra posteriorly and the apical calli black (generally also the humeral calli, but less distinctly.)” and “H. elegans is distinguishable from all other Indian species of the genus by its extremely glossy surface, as well as by the black spot near the end of each elytron.”  I can’t be absolutely certain, but I believe that is it. Regards. Karl

Thanks so much Karl.  We are fascinated by the Wikipedia claim that the coloration is not due to pigment, but to structure, or as it is more technically stated:  “The physics of the colouration of the cuticle is a subject of interest as the colours are entirely structural, not produced by pigments, and nearly 200 year old specimens show no degradation of the colours.[3] The underlying structures made up of nearly 50 microscopic double layers[4] have been studied in the search for structural paints that do not need pigments which are often environmentally toxic chemicals.”  The coloration of the Morpho is also due to structure and not pigment.

3.  Neville, AC & S Caveney (1969). “Scarabaeid beetle exocuticle as an optical analogue of cholesteric liquid crystals”. Biological Reviews 44 (4): 531–562. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1969.tb00611.x. PMID 5308457.

A dozen ten lined June bugs in my basement (so far) in October!!
Location: South Eastern Idaho
October 24, 2011 9:03 pm
We recently purchased a 100+ year old home. The home had been vacant since the spring. When we installed a new furnace and brought the home up to temperature last week 10/15/11 I noted a few days later several large bugs lying around in the basement. All were dead or nearly dead when found. I looked around and noted that in the area of the basement where the concrete floor doesn’t cover that there are some bore holes, about the size of an adult’s finger into the clay floor in this area. I was surprised to find them all dead and even more surprised once I found a picture on your website that let me guess what kind of bug it is.
Am I seeing an infestation? Are they waking and dying because we warmed up the home and they think it is spring? Will I have this happen over and over or are these beetles going to exhaust thier numbers after this false spring?
Signature: Rick

Ten Lined June Beetle

Hi Rick,
Since the larvae and pupae of the Ten Lined June Beetle live underground for several years, and since the ground temperature is a significant factor in the emergence of insects that live underground, it is likely that heating the basement triggered an early emergence for the brood of Ten Lined June Beetles you found in October.  We suspect that the clay floor might have provided a suitable location for a female to have laid eggs since the grubs feed on the roots of trees and shrubs.  We strongly doubt that the eggs were laid outside and the grubs tunneled to your basement.  We think it is more logical that at some point a female was trapped in the house and laid eggs on the floor.  We doubt that this pattern will repeat in future years, though it is entirely possible there is an isolated population of Ten Lined June Beetles that have been cyclically reproducing in the home if the required roots are near the surface of the clay floor.

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costa rica beetle
Location: Garza, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
September 20, 2011 10:16 pm
Hi there,
my boyfriend lives in costa rica on the pacific coast, and knows how much I love insects, so he sent me this picture, taken 9/20/11. I think he said it was june beetle size. What is it? He also said that the photo didn’t quite catch the golden color of the back. Thanks!
Signature: liza constable

Shining Leaf Chafer

Dear liza,
This is a Scarab Beetle, and we believe it is a Shining Leaf Chafer in the subfamily Rutelinae, and probably the tribe Rutelini which you can see well represented on BugGuide, a website that covers North American insects north of Mexico.