Big Costa Rican Beetle
March 15, 2010
A friend of mine is in Costa Rica and found this on his tool box yesterday (March 14, 2010. You can see that it is quite large! I am so curious–what is it, what does it eat, do they bite humans? How long do they live
Kat D.
Costa Rica

Elephant Beetle

Hi Kat,
This magnificent Elephant Beetle, Megasoma elephas does not bite.  Encyclopedia Britannica is a source for the common name Elephant Beetle.  The grubs feed on rotting wood, and the adults .  The Natural Worlds website has some nice photos, and according to the Absolute Astronomy website:  “For their diet, Elephant Beetles eat the sap of particular trees and ripened fallen fruits such as pineapples. They also eat longan, lychee fruit, and bark from certain trees like the poinciana.”

Thank you so much!  I love Whatsthatbug.com.   Very cool!
K

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Huge black screaming beetle found in road
March 7, 2010
A friend found this beetle in Gezina, Pretoria, South Africa, last night (6 March 2010). It was screaming so loudly that he was able to hear it from inside his shop, so he went out to investigate, thinking that it was a bat that had been injured. It is missing some legs, but can still hobble around. I have looked around on the Internet and from what I have found, it seems to be some kind of dung beetle – the flightless one? Not sure, though, because it seems to me not as smooth as the flightless dung beetle, and its head and “shoulders” seem a bit different. The head is flat, and from when I held it in my hand and it got the head in between my fingers, I know that it must be quite strong, because it was able to push my fingers apart with the head.
Kirsten Eksteen, Pretoria, South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa (in the part of Pretoria called “The Moot”)

Giant Dung Beetle

Hi Kirsten,
We did a bit of research by web searching “largest beetles in Africa” and we found what appeared to be a match on the Beetles of Africa website, a commercial site for collectors.  There are several views of Heliocopris faunus that are called Giant Dung Beetles.  We double checked that identification, and found similar images for the genus Heliocopris on the Encyclopedia of Life website.  The God of Insects website, another commercial site, has images of the Elephant Dung Beetle, Heliocopris dominus, that also look similar to your specimen, which is most likely a female.  Many Scarab Beetles, the family that includes the Giant Dung Beetles, are able to make sounds, termed stridulation, but rubbing parts of their bodies together.

Giant Dung Beetle

Dear Daniel
Thanks for your unexpectedly speedy response! (seeing that it is Sunday, I didn’t expect to hear from you until at least tomorrow afternoon).
I appreciate the information and will go and investigate the sites that you have sent me.  Thanks, also, for saying that it is probably a female, and for giving me the correct word for the sound that she made.
By the way, I had a good chuckle about the “Just to prove you are a human being” part of your web page:  I wrote “White (when it’s clean!)”, to which the system replied, “Please double-check you verification code”.  In other words, “Prove that you are human by giving me a one-word answer;  I am not interested in whether or not you are witty or can think further than the obvious.”  That’s machines for you, eh?
Sincerely
Kirsten.

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Black Nail Beetle – Brisbane – Queensland
February 20, 2010
hello again WTB-ers
Here is another first for WTB and yet another curious bug i have come across – this time in my yard! This is the Black Nail beetle ( Repsimus manicatus) from the scarabaeidae family.
Its got the most “muscular” thighs i have ever seen on a beetle, and its legs end in hooks – certainly felt very funny walking on me!
Wish it had stuck around longer so i could take more photos (it must have had some important muscular bug business to attend to) – thought you may like to add it to your collection
Dreaded Bug Queen
Ashgrove – Queensland – Australia

Black Snail Beetle

Dear Dreaded Bug Queen,
Thank you so much for sending us this awesome set of photos, and also for providing us with an identification.  The Brisbane Insect Website has some nice photos, but not much helpful information on the species. The Hunter Valley Backyard Nature website classifies the Black Snail Beetle as a Christmas Beetle and has some wonderful images of mating activity.  BioLib has the more scientific taxonomy of placing the Black Snail Beetle into the family of Shining Leaf Chafers, Rutelidae.

Black Snail Beetle

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Unidentified Ground Beetle
February 15, 2010
I took these photos in August of 2008, and need this beetle identified for a study I’m working on. I don’t remember where I found him, or exactly what size he was (probably rather large, if I remember correctly). Can anyone offer suggestions or a positive ID? Most appreciated…
Daryl Ann
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Hermit Beetle

Hi Daryl Ann,
You have misidentified this Scarab Beetle as a Ground Beetle.  It is in the subfamily Dynastinae, the Rhinoceros Beetles.  We are nearly certain this is a female Ox Beetle, Strategus antaeus, which you can find posted on BugGuide which indicates the Ox Beetle can be identified by the “Elytra without sutural striae.“  We wish you had not submitted a composite photo as the details are very tiny when we reduce the image.  If possible, we would request that you resend uncomposited images so we may post larger versions of your wonderful images.

Hermit Beetle

I’m sending the images separately (uncomposited).  I had thought maybe this was a Black Burying Beetle, but the shape of the head didn’t look right to me.  I’ll check out your suggestion, but I submit the attached to you in the meantime.  Crop if needed.
Thanks for your VERY speedy response!
What a great site you’ve got!!!
Daryl Ann

Hermit Beetle

Thanks so much Daryl Ann.  These images are much better.  We will check with Eric Eaton to verify this identification.

Hermit Beetle

Correction Courtesy of Eric Eaton
Hi, Daniel:
No, this is an example of the “hermit beetle,” Osmoderma eremicola.  They can get pretty hefty in their own right, but are not in the same subfamily as the ox beetle.  I’m kind of glad it isn’t a Dynastinae.  There are lots of “small” members of that subfamily that give me fits trying to ID!
Eric

thanks Eric,
BugGuide indicates that the Hermit Beetle is also known as the Odor of Leather Beetle because of its smell.

Wonderful!!!  That’s it!  Thank you SO much!  You’ve been a wonderful help to me!
You guys really ROCK!
Daryl Ann

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