rss What beetle is this
Location: Okavango, Botswana, Africa
February 27, 2011 12:55 pm
Hi,
Please can you help me identify this bug.
Thanks
Jules
Signature: Jules
Flower Chafer
Hi Jules,
Back in December 2009, we identified this Flower Chafer in the subfamily Cetoniinae as Dicranorrhina derbyana.
Giant Beetle
Location: Nayarit, Mexico
January 24, 2011 9:55 pm
Nice site! I do enjoy reading it!
We were drinking beer at a wedding reception in Nayarit when we saw this huge, cool beetle crawling around on the ground. I invited it onto my hand where it stood for a bit before flying away.
It was brownish and shimmery, and very well-mannered in spite of our revelry. What kind of beetle is it?
Signature: Fred
Elephant Beetle
Hi Fred,
We are going to tell you the same thing we tell our photo students: “Don’t be afraid of your subject. Move in closer.” We believe this is a female Elephant Beetle, Megasoma elephas. The male is even larger and has magnificent horns. We found a photo on a UK Reptile Forum that shows a size comparison of the male and female Elephant Beetle.
Beach Beetle
Location: Warren Dunes State Park, MI
January 7, 2011 4:32 pm
I saw this Beetle drinking water from a sand ball on a beach in MI. Since then, I’ve looked everywhere trying to figure out what this beetle is; I even bought an Audobon Field Guide, but I’ve had no luck. I would love to finally know what my mysterious beetle is called. Thanks, so much, to whomever responds. : )
Signature: Ruth
Rose Chafer
Hi Ruth,
This is a Rose Chafer in the genus Macrodactylus which means “large fingers”, according to BugGuide, a reference to the long claws. Rose Chafers are classified in the subfamily Melolonthinae which includes May Beetles and June Bugs.
Beetle Identify
Location: Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
December 9, 2010 7:33 am
Hi
I found this beetle in my house yesterday and am very curious as to what type of beetle it is.
Signature: curious Jax
Orange Spotted Fruit Chafer
Dear curious Jax,
It did not take us too long to identify your beautiful beetle as an Orange Spotted Fruit Chafer, Mecynorrhina passerinii, which we found on the Biodiversity Explorer website on the Web of Life in South Africa. Our initial web searching did not turn up any additional information.
Orange Spotted Fruit Chafer
Shiny Single Horned Beetle
Location: Dupui Preserve just east of Lake Okeechobee Florida
December 4, 2010 9:48 am
Dear Bug Dudes & Dudettes,
This beetle flew into my car in the Dupui Preserve Loxahatchee / West Palm, Florida. November 2010. It’s shell is thick, very hard, and so reflective that it was difficult to photograph.
About 3/4 of an inch long but still strong enough to escape my closed hand by pushing up on my finger with it’s head, powered by the two front legs. A very impressive little bug.
I would like to know what they feed on so I can observe it a while. Thanks
Signature: Nature Dad
Rainbow Scarab
Dear Nature Dad,
We positively love that you gave us such nice differing views of your Rainbow Scarab. Your beetle is a male as evidenced by his horn. We hope you won’t think less of this beauty when you learn he is a Dung Beetle. Dung Beetles mate and work in pairs to provide for the brood. The roll excretia into a ball and roll it to the pre-dug burrow where they bury the ball of dung and lay an egg. The pair divide the labor in the raising of the brood, a rarity in the insect world. Daniel has written extensively on the family structure of mated Dung Beetles in his book, The Curious World of Bugs.
November 18, 2010
Ed Note: WTB? has maintained a confidentiality agreement regarding this sculpture, but we are now pleased to post the images and the name suggestion request.
Hi Daniel,
You may recall the conversation that we had below.
I have finally finished the sculpture and, since the show opens on Tuesday, I am free to share images with you.
I would be delighted if you were to suggest a proper name (see original request below).
Here is a link to a splash page for the piece.
www.deancolls.com
I have attached some images at the bottom of the page.
Warm regards
Dean Colls
Melbourne
Alexander the Great Sculpture by Dean Collis
Help needed in naming new species
January 20, 2010
Dear What’s That Bug,
Firstly I would like to thank you for your most excellent site.
Your humour and obvious love of our invertebrate cousins make your site one of my favourites.
I too am a great lover of invertebrates and have never understood the “Eeew a bug!” mentality.
I am a professional sculptor and amateur coleopterist based in Melbourne Australia and I’m working on a new piece for a major exhibition that I would like some assistance with.
Yes, I have hooked you in with a false promise in the subject line, I am really asking for help in naming a sculpture.
My sculpture is a 7.4 meter long beetle, closely related to the Australian Christmas beetle but not intended to be an existing species, more a newly discovered specimen that (apart from it’s enormous size) could easily be placed among it’s close relatives.
My working title for the sculpture is ‘Alexander the Great’ and references the song ‘Alexander Beetle’.
What I am hoping that you will do for me is to help me come up with a pseudo-scientific name that fits logically within the taxonomic lexicon and is also suitable for the art world and general public.
Here is a brief version of my concept for the sculpture -
“Human beings, as a group, have a particularly self centred view of the world. Whilst it cannot be denied that we cast a long shadow, there are other inhabitants that are far more important to the day to day running of the biosphere than Humanity.
It has been suggested that if we were to disappear tomorrow, life on Earth would continue with barely a shrug, but if the insects were to disappear, most terrestrial species would be extinct within a few of years.
In terms of population size and biomass we are dwarfed by other inhabitants; one in five terrestrial species is a beetle, they make up a greater portion of biomass than we do and yet, as adults we rarely stoop to notice our diminutive neighbours.
My sculpture “Alexander the Great” stands as an Avatar for this unnoticed but essential world and as a champion for that sense of wonder and exploration that many of us leave behind as children.
The piece will be 7.2m long, 2 m high and 5.3m wide, with its imposing scale I am jolting the viewer into a new experience, shifting the centre of the universe away from the human perspective and reclaiming the significance of the unseen world around us.
I have chosen the medium of rusted Corten steel to transcend our idea of beetles as “natures jewels”, to strip away the gloss and show the beauty of the form that lies beneath. It is a medium that sits well in the Australian landscape and adds a sense of age and gravitas to the piece.
“Alexander the Great” is to be the first work in a series exploring the difference between our self perceived importance to the biosphere and the reality; and how this relates to our understanding of the true impact and significance of other species.
I am excited by the collaborations that I have formed with scientists and researchers that have been an important part of the preparation for this body of work.
I have always been fascinated by the places where Art and Science meet: the intellectual and aesthetic beauty of field notes and illustrations from the age of discovery by such men as Banks and Darwin, the dance of engineering, aesthetics and psychology that is architecture, the majestic beauty of modern astronomical photography and much more besides. This pairing of Science’s power of discovery and Art’s ability to enlighten and transcend is our greatest means for understanding the world around us and our place within it.”
I am not prepared to have my work released before the show opens and would be grateful if you could keep any details of this project out of the public eye.
I will be happy to share images with you but first need you to agree that you will keep them confidential (tiresome, I know but necessary).
I will, however, be delighted if you were interested in posting the finished work at the appropriate time. Not fishing, just offering.
Please let me know if you are prepared to keep this project confidential and I will be happy to send you images of the design, maquette and work to date.
I understand that you are very busy and would be grateful for whatever you are prepared to offer.
Warm Regards
Dean Colls
Melbourne
The making of Alexander the Great
Hi Dean,
We remember your request and we are very happy you finished the piece and that we are finally able to post your letter and request. We will make this a feature and hopefully you will get some suggestions from our readership, many of whom are experts in beetles. We agree that Alexander the Great looks to be related to the Christmas Beetles.
Alexander the Great's eye and antenna
mardikavana requested a dorsal view, and this is the only dorsal view Dean sent, of the eye and antenna.
Hi Daniel,
I have not managed to get a decent dorsal view of Alexander the Great but I do have one of the maquette.
This is the cardboard model that I produced first to refine my patterns before cutting the full scale sculpture out in steel.
I have painted the maquette to resemble rusted steel.
Hope that this helps.
The full sized work is made of a number of different pieces that needed to be bolted together from the inside.
The scutellum acts as the exit hatch.
Regards
Dean
Maquette of Alexander the Great
Hi Daniel et al
The official opening of the exhibition was yesterday and Alexander was very well received.
I have an artist’s talk to give tomorrow at the gallery and I am very pleased that I can now answer the question “what kind of bug is that?”.
Thank you all for your assistance, Plusiotis australiensis is a lovely name.
Warm Regards
Dean Colls
Melbourne
Green and yellow beetle in Ethiopia
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
October 27, 2010 12:28 pm
Hi Mr Bugman – I am writing to ask your assistance in identifying a green and yellow beetle. The first flew into my house a couple of weeks ago in a , and the second after I moved to the fifth floor of an apartment block at the top of a hill in the city of Addis Ababa. They have both since left my home.
I named the first one Marius, and the second Julius (Te-See-Zar is Amharic language word for beetle). I would like to know what they eat/drink and their sleeping patterns (hibernation etc…) so I can make a comfortable home for them if they return.
They are the only two of this kind of beetle I have ever seen, so it seems a strange co-incidence that they both came to my home, were not able to fly away, seeming sluggish in their efforts, and after a couple of days of rest, vanished without a trace.
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give me.
Signature: Billy Moon
Scarab Beetle: Pachnoda stehelini
Hi Billy,
Your beetle is one of the members of the large family Scarabaeidae, the Scarab Beetles. It somewhat resembles the Green June Beetle or Figeater from North America, and we are guessing it is probably in the same subfamily, Cetoniinae, the Fruit and Flower Chafers. We are guessing, that like many of its relatives, it will feed upon ripe fruit. Next time try a banana or a peach. Most Scarabs do not hibernate, but they will live for a few months as adults. We believe your specimen looks very similar to Pachnoda stehelini which we found on the Cetonidae Online Insect Museum website run by Benjamin Harink. We then found some photos of living specimens on Goliathus.com. There are also very nice images of it on Beetlespace.
Scarab Beetle: Pachnoda stehelini
Thank you very much for your reply. I have looked at the links you sent me. It is all very interesting. I will try a banana, or maybe some flower pollen next time.
Cheers
Billy
unknown Iridescent beetle…
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
October 26, 2010 5:27 pm
so i found this beetle floating in the pool. It’s color attracted my eye immediately! After I rescued ”him”, he flew away before I had a chance to get a shot. Two days later I found another one in the pool again. so I grabbed my camera first! This second beetle was exactly the same as the first, except for the horn. I assume the one with the horn is male and without female? Think you might be able to shed some light?
Signature: Honey
Rainbow Scarab
No problem;). I know the basics already, rainbow scarab/dung beetle. But I would like the specific identification when you do have a moment.
Thanks
Honey
Hi Honey,
This is a female Rainbow Scarab, Phanaeus vindex.
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