What’s this bug?
Hi there bug guy,
Hope you can help me name this bug my son found outside on our fence. I’ve never seen this beetle before. He’s really cute, but he has a very loud and very scary hisssssss. My cat was not impressed by him at all 
Is this bug native to where we are? Northern Territory Australia. And can we keep him as a pet, or should we let him back in the garden? Can we handle him? Carefully of course. Or is he poisonous, a biter? Thanks for any help you can give us.
Sarah and Dylan.
Hi Sarah and Dylan,
Though your photo is quite blurry, we believe this is Haploscapanes australicus, a somewhat rare Rhinoceros Beetle from Australia. Sadly the angle of view and image quality leave room for doubt. You can feed your pet ripe fruit, like bananas, but probably it would be best to release him in the hopes he will find a mate.
Beetles
Hello Bugman. I found this weird looking beetle in my dog’s water bowl and I promptly brought it into the house so that I could Google it. After not finding it, I remembered your site (which I’ve been to a couple times before) and searched through the pages of beetles but I haven’t found it yet. Its about the same size as a quarter (as the picture shows) and is a metallic green color with metallic copper color on the carapace (?). It sports a single curved horn on its head. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, its been gloomy and wet all day.
Clay Bridges
Henderson, Texas
hi Clay,
Your beetle is type of Dung Beetle commonly called a Rainbow Scarab, Phanaeus difformis. it is related to the similar looking, more common Rainbow Scarab, Phaneas vindex. BugGuide has a nice graphic that shows how to distinguish the two species based on the shape of pronotum.
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Posted 04 April 2008
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what is this
We’re in the flower business and we recieve imports from all over the world. Most of our products are inspected with a magnifying glass by USDA inspectors for every possible insect or mollusk. Somehow this guy came in under the radar, he was found inside a rose box from Ecuador. What’s that bug? regards,
Heather Cook
Hi Heather,
That is some impressive stowaway you’ve got there. This is one of the Rhinoceros Beetles in the genus Golofa, but we are not entirely sure of the species. It might be Golofa pizarro, but we don’t think so because the shape of the upper horn is convex, not concave. Golofa eacus is another possibility. Golofa claviger seems to be a better match. We located a website selling specimens from this genus that has images of other species including Golofa gaugoni. Finally, we located a wonderful webpage with images of Rhinoceros Beetles on stamps, including several Golofa species that are called Corn Beetles. Our money is on Golofa claviger, but we will try to get Eric Eaton’s opinion. Our big question is “Are you are going to include this lovely gentleman in some lucky lady’s St. Valentine’s Day bouquet?”
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Posted 12 February 2008
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Please help Identify
My seven year old found this in the driveway behind a car and saved it from being squashed, so he says. He is currently looking for a new home for it, but wanted to know what it was. I sifted through pictures on the internet and found nothing. Can you help, picture attached.
david for Samuel
round rock texas
Hi Samuel and David,
This is an Earth Boring Dung Beetle in the family Geotrupidae, and the genus Bolbocerosoma. BugGuide has not gotten any submissions from Texas, but they have received images from nearby louisiana and Oklahoma. Let Samuel know that we are very excited to receive a new species to our site.
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Posted 29 January 2008
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identify beatles
Please help us identify these beatles. They landed on our grape vine this summer and consumed it rapidly. We never saw them again. They were very large – an inch or so. This is the best photo we have of them. We live in Teaneck, NJ. Thank you,
Ivy
Hi Ivy,
Believe it or not, these are called Grapevine Beetles, Pelidnota punctata. The pair in the lower right is mating.
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Posted 27 January 2008
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Tagged: bug love
mystery cactus beetles
I took the attached photo in west Texas in May of last year. As you can see, there are several beetles, tan and black and about 1/2 inch apiece, and one slightly larger one, with what appears to be slightly lighter coloring (to the right of center in the photo). These were in a prickly pear cactus flower. All the flowers on that cactus had a similar set of beetles. Flowers on other nearby prickly pears sometimes had them, sometimes not. I did see them in some non- prickly pear flowers as well. Someone on flickr suggested the Harlequin Flower Beetle, but it looks different to me. Also these are smaller than the Harlequin, I think, and were definitely in groups. I didn’t see any loners, and as far as I can tell the Harlequins are usually seen singly? I’m curious not only about the species, but also the relationship between the smaller bugs and the larger one. Parent? Prey? Mate? Thanks! I love your site, as always.
Christina Holland
Hi Christina,
Though the coloration is similar to the Harlequin Flower Beetle, we agree that you have a smaller, different species. After much searching, we believe we have positively identified your beetles as Kern’s Flower Scarab, Euphoria kerni, thanks to images on BugGuide. “This species is extremely variable in its color and pattern ranging from all black to nearly all yellow with all stages in between” according to BugGuide, which should answer your question about the light beetle in your wonderful photo.
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Posted 18 January 2008
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found bug in my yard port orange florida
what kind of bug is it?
This is a male Rainbow Scarab.
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Posted 23 December 2007
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Dear Bugman,
I live in a small town called Milton on the south coast of NSW Australia and today which is a nice summer day, not hot or to windy, just a nice breeze.After a busy morning my children were relaxing watching TV in our lounge room when this bug fell down the chimney. I have lived in the area all my life and have never seen anything like this before. It can fly but is not at all graceful, quite heavy in fact like it does not fly often. I am sure you can solve the mystery as your website and resources of information is incredible. Thank you,
Kelly.
Hi Kelly,
This is actually an easy ID for us. The first time we tried to identify the Australian Fiddler Beetle, Eupoecila australasiae, we had to spend a bit of time on the internet. We selected it as our Bug of the Month in February 2007. It is one of the colorful Scarab Beetles that appear around Christmastime in Australia.
What kind of beetle is this?
Hello Bug people,
My wife and I found these beetles yesterday while hiking in the Myakka River State Park in Sarasota County Florida and I would love to know what they are?? When scared they curled up and tried to imitate an acorn!! Very cool! Any help with identification of this species would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Bob Finck
Hi Bob,
These are male Rainbow Scarabs, probably North America’s prettiest Dung Beetles.
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Posted 04 December 2007
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Dung beetle in Georgia?
While I was taking my dog for a walk around my yard, he stopped and was sniffing at the ground for a while. So I moved him away and took a look for my self and found this little beetle. I am almost positive that it is a Dung Beetle or as I like to refer to them, a Scarab. Not too sure that there is a difference between the two. The odd thing is that I didn’t know that we had these kind of beetles in Georgia. Is this a Dung Beetle/Scarab? And Do we have them in Georgia? Thanks,
Justin R. Robertson
Hi Justin,
Yes, there are Dung Beetles in Georgia, and yes this is a Dung Beetle. Scarab is a more general term for the family of beetles that includes Dung Beetles. We believe this is Canthon vigilans, commonly called a Tumblebug.
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Posted 13 November 2007
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Dung Beetle
This beetle hit my wife in the head while she was letting our dog in. I learned from your site that it is a dung beetle. I have lived in Southeastern Indiana all my life, and I have never seen one around here before. Are they common, or is this rare? Thanks,
Ed Scholle
Milan, IN
Hi Ed,
This is not an uncommon beetle, but perhaps the Rainbow Scarab is more common in isolated populations.
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Posted 30 October 2007
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dung beetle?
Hello!
I work at a zoo in Colorado and we’ve found these beetles in the dung of both our orangutans and gorillas. They seem to be of the burrowing type, as I’ve never seen them make balls. They are small (only about 1/4 inch in length). Any idea what they are? Thanks!
Heidi
Hi Heidi,
This appears to be Aphodius fimetarius, a small Dung Beetle that has been reported from Colorado on BugGuide.
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Posted 01 October 2007
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