six legged worm thing?
February 2, 2010
Im not sure what this thing is it was found in my back yard and its a little over 2 inches long and fairly thick it has fuzz on it and it must burrow because when i put it in the grass again it starting moving down. when its flipped right side up it roles onto its back and begins to wiggle normally. it has a dark colored head not sure if its dark red but it does have pincers and there’s something inside its tail maybe a sack its black and white. I’m not to fond of insects but i;d like to know what this is because Ive never seen one before.
Luis Martinez
Los Angeles California
Crawly-Back
Hi Luis,
This is the larva of a Green Fruit Beetle, Cotinus mutabilis. They are often found in compost piles and they are known as Crawly-Backs. The beautiful green adults fly in August, and because they feed on fruit, they are sometimes called Figeaters.
Crawly-Back
¶ Posted 04 February 2010 § Grubs ‡ ° Metallic green beetle from Australia
January 30, 2010
Dear Bugman,
I was photographing birds in a flowering tree this week and I noticed 2 of these pretty beetles. When I got too close to one, it flew off and hovered near by and settled on another flower bunch. I live in a rainforest area of tropical far north Queensland and it is our summer / rainy season. I would appreciate any help in identifying it. I didn’t realize there were so many pretty bugs out there! Thanks in advance.
Cheers, Jenny
Lake Eacham, Far North Queensland, Australia
Green Scarab Beetle
Hi Jenny,
We did a really quick web search and we were unable to identify the species of Green Metallic Scarab you have found. We believe it is in the subfamily Cetoniinae, the Fruit and Flower Chafers. It is possible that it is not native to Australia, because it is so distinctive, we thought species identification would be easy. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide us with additional information.
Karl supplies some possible identifications
Hi Daniel and Jenny:
I am also a little perplexed that such a distinctive beetle should be so hard to identify. I was able to find several images of very similar Australian beetles on the web but most of them were either unidentified or labeled as Christmas beetles. I assume the latter were either misnamed, or that common name applies to other beetles besides the true Christmas beetles in the genus Anoplognathus. I think this beetle may be a flower chafer in the Tribe Schizorhinini (Cetoniinae), probably in one of three genera (although there could be others): Ischiopsopha, Lomaptera or Mycterophallus. The closest matches I could find were Mycterophallus duboulayi and Lomaptera duboulayi (these are likely the same species as there is considerable confusion and synonymy among all three of these genera). It could also be a migrant from nearby Papua New Guinea, where the Schizorhinini are diverse and abundant. The Papua Insects Foundation has posted many spectacular photos of Schizorhinini from the Indonesian side of the island. Eons ago I had the good fortune of spending several years in PNG and I recall seeing thousands of very similar looking beetles, albeit dismembered and stitched into beautiful pieces of body ornamentation, particularly headbands. Regards.
Karl
two beetles? one fly?
January 24, 2010
1.blue beetle in botanic garden Canberra
2.golden beetle Burramine, Murray Valley Hwy vic. on the ground
3. fly Woodend vic in a garden
elise
victoria Nsw
Christmas Beetle
Hi Elise,
We only like to post one species per letter to keep our archives from being too confusing. Your golden beetle is a Christmas Beetle in the genus Anoplognathus. They get their common name because they arrive like clockwork each year around Christmas in Australia. Csiro has a nice web page with information. Your blue beetle is some species of Leaf Beetle and the fly is a Robber Fly.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for your quick answer. I just spent a few weeks in Australia and now I am back in the snow in the Netherlands.
Since eveything, every flower, every animal is different from here I have a lot of “research” to do.
I had a book for trees, for flowers, for animals. for birds, but not for insects.
Is there a website that can help me find out by myself what the creatures on my photos are?
Being totally ignorant in australian buglife I probably saw only the very very common insects.
If I have more questions I’ll send them one by one.
Elise
Grub Pics, Figeater Beetle
January 13, 2010
Thought I would pass on these pics of my grubs. Pulled up a piece of carpet that had grass growing thru it and there they were. They were twice as large as the pic but I’ve had in jar for a week already. I’m gonna let them go now that I know what they are…. and I thiought you might like the additional pics since your post mentioned not many pics found.
New to your site but liking it alot
Bakersfield California
May Beetle Grubs
Dear New,
Welcome to What’s That Bug? and we hope you have many hours of reading pleasure. Though your grubs are related to Crawlybacks, the larvae of Fig Eaters, you have dug up the grubs of May Beetles or June Bugs which are called White Grubs. The Brown adults are often attracted to porch lights in the spring, hence the name May Beetle. Your photo nicely illustrates the typical C-shape and bluish abdomen that is characteristic of these White Grubs that feed on subterranean roots and decaying vegetation in the soil. The typical White Grub is from 1 to 1 and 1/2 inches in length.
White Grub
3
¶ Posted 14 January 2010 § Grubs ‡ ° Are these figeaters that we have in the compost pile?
January 10, 2010
We found A LOT of these grubs in our compost pile. Is our compost pile considered “infested” now and shouldn’t be use? Are they crawlybacks or figeaters? Though I never saw it crawl on its back. Do I pick them out? If they are figeaters does that mean the figs in my fig tree will be subject to attack? 
Angel
San Jose, CA
Crawly Back
Hi Angel,
You are absolutely correct. These are Crawly Backs, the larvae of the Green Fruit Beetle or Figeater, Cotinis mutabilis. The idea of a compost pile is that organic material is broken down by decomposition and the action of insects and worms. The Crawly Backs are assisting in the composting process. The beautiful adult beetles will eat fruit, but unless they are extremely plentiful, they will probably not significantly damage your fig crop. We expect birds and squirrels will eat more figs than the Figeaters. We would leave the Crawly Backs in the compost pile. We could not locate many images of Crawly Backs online, but we have out own posting from 2008 and Ask.Com has a nice image and some information.
Crawly Backs
Dung Beetle
January 10, 2010
Fairly large dungbeetle that flew into the lodge at knight, Gess it to be an Elephant Dung Dungbeetle
Natie le Roux
Ladysmith, Kwazulu Natal, RSA
Dung Beetle
Hello Natie,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Dung Beetle. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to identify the species.
¶ Posted 10 January 2010 § ‡ ° Black & Red Water Bug?
January 4, 2010
These guys only seem to surface at this time of year (Summer). They fly (rather poorly) and seem to be seriously attracted to water. Pretty much always find their way to the sink, shower floor or cats water bowl. Also only seem to see them at night. Heaps of them in the house at the moment. Fairly small, about the size of a 5 cent coin.
Jason
Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
Unknown Scarab Beetle from Tasmania
Dear Jason,
This is not a Water Bug, but rather, some species of Scarab Beetle. We do not believe the beetles are being attracted to the water. We believe they are accidentally flying into the water and cannot get out. We wish your photo was of a higher quality, but as it is, the markings on your beetle seem rather distinctive. We have had no luck matching it to anything online, including the Scarabaeidae Insect Gallery page on the LifeUnseen website.
green shiny beetle 30mm +
December 30, 2009
26 December, 17:37h (Height of Summer)
Found on our drive this beetle, ca 30 mm+ long.
Placed it on lawn, but it kept disappearing under grass.
Then – because bricks were very hot – put it on a leaf . It kept running away with incredible speed…
Please identify.
Thanks,
Ingrid
South Africa, Limpopo, Hoedspruit
Dicranorrhina derbyana
Dear Ingrid,
We didn’t have much luck locating your beetle on the Beetles of Africa website despite believing it to be in the subfamily Cetoniinae known as the Fruit and Flower Chafers, but we did find a matching image in an Ultimate Beetle Collection for sale. We decided to leaf through the Living Jewels by Poul Beckmann coffee table book our dear friend Monika Bielser from Basel, Switzerland bought us several years ago, and we found a near match in Dicranorrhina derbyana, one of the names mentioned in the list of beetles included in the Ultimate Beetle Collection image. Doing a web search of that name turned up some near matches on Wikimedia Commons including a nice closeup of a collection and on InsectGeeks.com, but the white markings on the elytra of your specimen are not quite as developed as the images we found either in the book or online, so we can conclude this is either a different species in the genus Dicranorrhina, a subspecies of Dicranorrhina derbyana, or a color variation of the same species. Also since your specimen is lacking the developed horns, we believe it to be a female.
Dear Daniel
I thank you very much for your swift response and help concerning ID; especially at this time of the year, when your family will want your attention and time!
I wish you all the best for 2010
Greetings from a hot South Africa,
Ingrid Shaul
¶ Posted 31 December 2009 § ‡ ° 
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