Subject: yellow with black spotted beetle
Location: North West GA
May 17, 2013 11:50 am
This bug was on our back porch and we are curious what it was. The image was taken in June 2012. The bug came and hung out for a while and was gone the next day.
Signature: Thanks, Bunny

Female Eastern Hercules Beetle

Hi Bunny,
This is a female Eastern Hercules Beetle.  Males are horned.  This is the heaviest North American beetle and we generally get reports in June and July, so posting your image from last year should act as a nice preview of this year’s sightings.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I had done quite a bit of searching last year but the no horn threw us off. Am new to your site, but find it very interesting.

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Subject: Strange beetle
Location: Waxhaw, NC
May 3, 2013 2:55 pm
Please identify this bug.
Signature: Mrs. Cape

Rainbow Scarab

Dear Mrs. Cape,
This is a Rainbow Scarab, Phanaeus vindex. Judging by the spare nature of your request, we suspect you might not be the curious type.  We have answered your question, but we don’t know if you are interested in knowing that this is a Dung Beetle that feeds its young on excrement.  The beetles, sometimes working in pairs, roll a ball of dung and move it to an appropriate underground location.  The female and sometimes the male guards the nursery.  This is a male.  He has a horn.  We feel this is one of the loveliest Dung Beetles in the world. 

The Best Way to Search WTB?
As an aside, the best way to search our site is to just use google which has the world’s best search engine.  Here is what we found when we typed in rainbow scarab whatsthatbug.com
These are all photos on our site which has in excess of 10,000 distinct postings.

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Subject: Unique Beetle
Location: Guayaquil, Ecuador
April 27, 2013 3:53 pm
On night while I was in Guayaquil, Ecuador, I found this unique little beetle enjoying my soft bed as I retired to go to sleep. Of course, I relocated him to a more suitable sleeping location for beetles, but not before snapping a few pictures to remember him by. Though I love bugs, I’m not very good at identifying them. Hopefully you enjoy the pictures, and are able to find out a bit more about him! This beetle was about the size of a nickle.
Also, how can I learn to identify bugs? What websites/books would you recommend?
Thanks!
Signature: Eric

Scarab Beetle: Gymnestis stellata

Hi Eric,
This gorgeous specimen is a Scarab Beetle, and we believe it is either Gymnestis stellata or a very closely related species.  We initially found a matching photo on the French website Le forum des sciences de la vie et de la Terre.  We are also very amused that you can get a Venezuelan phone card with this beetle’s photo on the Colnect website.  We would suggest that you get a good field guide for your locality as a way to begin to learn more about insects.  If you are from North America, we recommend the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America by Eric Eaton.

Scarab Beetle: Gymnetis stellata

Thanks for the quick reply, your identification seems unquestionable based on the other pictures Google supplies! I’ll pick up Eric Eaton’s book as soon as I’m able!
I also have a few more pictures from my stay in Ecuador, if you’d like me to send them in.
Much appreciated!

Please submit one at a time and put Ecuador in the subject line.

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Subject: Garden bug from South Africa
Location: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
March 29, 2013 6:17 am
Hi. I live in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is the tail end of summer. I have seen many of the bugs as per attached in the garden. It seems to be around the flowers as opposed to out in the veld. Is it possible for you to let me know what it is?
Sorry about the pins. NO it is not a ”woodoo bug”
Signature: Sam Angell

Scarab Beetle

Hi Sam,
This is a Scarab Beetle in the family Scarabidae, but we did not have any luck matching it to any photos online in our initial attempts.  Those pins are sure distracting.

Hi. Sorry about the pins. He was a bit floppy ……..
Thank you so much for helping me. I rally appreciate that.
Kind regards

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Subject: Madagascar Beetle sp.
Location: Andasibe-Mantadia NP, Madagascar
March 10, 2013 5:22 pm
Hi,
I wonder if you can help me ID this beetle?! I’ve searched the internet with out any luck. I think it was some 3 cm long.
Signature: Kristian

Unknown Scarab

Hi again Kristian,
This is some member of the Scarab Beetle family Scarabidae, but we haven’t had any luck with an actual species identification.

Update:  Thanks to Cesar Crash who identified Pantolia flavomarginata.

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Subject: Earth boring Scarab beetle???
Location: Coarsegold, CA
March 6, 2013 12:05 pm
My dad found this bug in his room and it was squeaking to him last night! He lives in the Sierra Foothills of Central California and asked me to help him figure out what kind of beetle it is. I am at a loss and need some help. Do you know what it is?
Signature: Sarah Eagar

Dung Beetle

Hi Sarah,
This is one of the Dung Beetle, but we are not sure about its exact classification.  That will take further research and we will do that later this weekend.

Update:  Hi again Sarah,
We looked at the images of Earth Boring Scarab Beetles on BugGuide and they are in the family Geotrupidae.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae feed on dung or carrion. Adults feed on dung or fungi, or do not feed at all” which supports our initial identification.  This also gives us an excuse to link to a wonderful recent article in the LA Times about Dung Beetles navigating by the light of the milky way.  It seems National Geographic broke the story the same day.

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Subject: goldsmith beetle
Location: i dont know i got pic from google images
February 16, 2013 6:38 pm
dear bug man this is a goldsmith beetle and i don’t know anything about it but i want to can you tell me about it
Signature: bluebeetle

Ed. Note February 17, 2013:  The following email arrived less than 24 hours after the initial submission.
oh my god i sent 3 requests and you dont do anthing and it makes me sad because its my favorite web site

Goldsmith Beetle (image from our archives)

Dear Bluebeetle,
While we admire your enthusiasm, we cannot post images that were not taken by the person submitting the image, or at least without the permission of the photographer.  Additionally, our tiny staff is unable to respond to every request we receive, and since we generally do most of our posting in the mornings, waiting 24 hours is not unusual.  You keep submitting requests with images taken from the internet, which is why we have been unable to post your requests.  You can use our search engine to research information on species we have already written about.  Here is a link to a previous posting on our site of the Goldsmith Beetle.  One of the three images of Goldsmith Beetles you attached is an image from our archives, though the file you grabbed from the internet is not the same file we posted, which indicates that either the original photographer posted it elsewhere, or internet pirates have pilfered it from us and renamed as well as resized the file.  “Images of friends” is not the name we used for the included image.

ooohhh  so i will take pictures instead how post’em though

Just submit the image using the form like you submitted this entry.  We control all the postings to our site individually so we can choose and closely monitor the content on What’s That Bug?

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