Please identify my beetle,there’s loads of them in my home in east Sussex
Steve to bugman
Sent from my iPhone
Cockchafer
Dear Steve,
This May Beetle is commonly called a Cockchafer or Billy Witch. In the future, please use our regular identification form which has fields that require information. Sending messages from an iPhone has its advantages on the sending end, but it does complicate our posting process on the receiving end should be decide to use the submission on the website. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.
¶ Posted 09 May 2011 § ‡ ° Any idea what this bug is?
Location: Potton, Bedfordshire, England
May 8, 2011 6:39 pm
Hi there, just wondering if you could tell me what this bug is?
I had stayed out last night and my girlfriend was in on her own, which is probably why this little fella decided to strike!
Apparently it flew in through the window and ended up in our bedroom lamp, and proceeded to bash around frantically until stopping like it was dead. My girlfriend had tried to get it out by pointing the lamp to the window but it seemed like it was stuck and was not moving so she left it outside today until I got back. I went to move it just now and it started moving around a little. It actually seemed to be clinging to the lamp shade, or perhaps it’s feet stick to that kind of material? I don’t know, I won’t pretend to be an expert 
Anyway if you could shed some light on it that would be great!
It’s probably
Thanks 
Signature: Charles Beeching
Cockchafer
Dear Charles,
This May Beetle, Melolontha melolontha, is commonly called a Cockchafer or Billy Witch. Your query is the second letter we received today from the UK requesting its identification.
¶ Posted 08 May 2011 § ‡ ° Black ground beetle, I think?
Location: Washington, DC
May 5, 2011 9:00 pm
My friend just found this beetle, thinks it’s cute, and wants to know what to feed it. I’m guessing it’s a ground beetle, so mealworms, maybe?
Signature: Mendez
Scarab Beetle
not a ground beetle. Camera angle not ideal, but might be a scarab or closely related beetle
Thanks for the quick reply! I actually checked your site’s beetle pics and I think now that it looks most like a patent-leather beetle.
That makes perfect sense. We will hunt through our unposted letters and prepare your letter to go live. We are thrilled that you were able to find a possible identity on our site. We can’t say for certain until we do some research if this is or is not a Patent Leather Beetle, also known as a Bess Beetle. The ridges of the elytra or wing covers is consistent with those of the Patent Leather Beetle and the rear legs do seem to resemble this image from BugGuide which is a detail of the rear leg of a Horned Passalus, Odontotaenius disjunctus, AKA a Patent Leather Beetle. BugGuide notes: “Unusual (for beetles) subsocial lifestyle. Adults and larvae live together in family groups in galleries excavated in rotting wood by adults. Adults care for larvae, and actively feed them prechewed food. Both adults and larvae stridulate, which is used for communication within the group. See Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles for more details.” Patent Leather Beetles feed upon rotting wood.
Update: June 20, 2011
We have just received a comment identifying this Scarab as Phileurus valgus.
¶ Posted 06 May 2011 § ‡ ° Metlaic Green and Brown Beetle
Subject: Metlaic Green and Brown Beetle
Location: Zion National Park Utah USA
May 3, 2011 10:14 pm
I found this guy in Zion National Park. The beetle was aproxamatly 3/4” to 1” in a desert location, but close to water.
Signature: Just Curiouse
Little Bear
Dear Just Curiouse,
We are positively thrilled to post your photo of a Shining Leaf Chafer in the Tribe Rutelini known as Paracotalpa granicollis which we identified on BugGuide. The Data page on BugGuide indicates that Utah is part of the range of this lovely little Scarab. We learned from Eric Eaton back in 2008 when we posted photos of a specimen from Oregon that we had misidentified that Paracotalpa granicollis is called the Little Bear.
¶ Posted 04 May 2011 § ‡ ° Giant larva in my copost bin?
Location: Burbank, California
May 1, 2011 5:39 pm
Hi,
We get lots of interesting creatures in our compost and I see many of these larve that are about as thick around as my middle finger. Last time I was turning the compost, I pulled a few out to take a picture and hopefully identify them.
I hope you can help, my kids and especially interested in learning what they areso they can tel their classmates at school.
Our guess was perhaps tomato bug larvae?
Thanks!
Signature: Curious Dad
Crawlyback
Hi Curious Dad,
You have Crawlybacks, the larvae of the Green Fruit Beetle or Figeater, Cotinus mutabilis. The name Crawlyback is discussed by Charles Hogue in his awesome book, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, where he writes that the larvae “obtain purchase on the substratum with traverse rows of still short stout bristles on the back of the thorax.” The larvae do not affect lawns or grass. The bright metallic green adults are active in August and September.
Crawlybacks
¶ Posted 02 May 2011 § Grubs ‡ ° Grubs and beetle
Location: Washington, DC
May 1, 2011 3:15 pm
I found numerous grubs and a few beetles nearby in my vegetable garden today. I wonder if they are related. Any assistance in identifying them would be appreciated.
Signature: Roy
Big Headed Ground Beetle and Scarab Grubs
Hi Roy,
Your grubs and beetle are only distantly related in that they are in the same insect order. The grubs are Scarab Grubs, most likely June Beetles, and they feed on plant roots. The Beetle is a beneficial predator, a Ground Beetle in the genus Scarites. BugGuide lists six species in the genus, and our money is on the Big Headed Ground Beetle, Scarites subterraneus, as the species. You may read about the Big Headed Ground Beetle on BugGuide.
Big Headed Ground Beetle
beetle
Location: Montgomery, AL
April 14, 2011 12:09 pm
We found this beetle. Im thinking it is a dung beetle but not sure
Signature: not sure
Female Ox Beetle
Ed. Note: We didn’t have time to research this incredible looking Scarab Beetle this morning, but we did have time to email the image to Eric Eaton who promptly responded. Here is the appropriate link on BugGuide.
Eric Eaton believes she’s an Ox Beetle
Daniel:
… Hey, I’ll be at the Bug Fair this May 14-15, hope to see you there. … The scarab looks like a female in the genus Strategus, but maybe it didn’t fully pigment before it died? Anyway, female “ox beetle” is what I’m sticking with
Eric
¶ Posted 15 April 2011 § ‡ ° Cure for Japanese beetles for small gardens!
April 8, 2011 11:07 pm
My name is Justin and I have a fairly large home garden in Michigan. Every year it seems like the Japanese Beetle population has been growing. We tried everything short of pesticides (I grow organically and I think with a little innovation nature has a cure for all). Recently I read that Japanese beetles rely on their very sensitive sense of smell to find food and each other. I heard that the traps become innefective once they have a fair amount of beetles in them because of the smell. This gave me an idea. My neighbor hung one of the traps. We sprinkled the dead beetles under the raspberries. We went from a heavy infestation to nonexistant. It smelled unpleasant to the human nose for a couple of days then the smell went away. We did this twice last summer and that protected the entire garden completely. There has been studies that show the beetles may be drawn to the traps but this method works if you are simply trying to protect a small area. Very effective nontoxic approach for the home gardener. Double positive traps some keeps others away. It may not drastically affect populations but it can keep them out of certain areas. Please pass this along before home gardeners use insecticides in their garden being this also kill our beloved beneficial insects.
Signature: Justin Brown
Japanese Beetle
Hi Justin,
Thanks so much for the tip. It is a few months before we expect to get reports of Japanese Beetles, but we will do our best to feature your tip beginning in June.
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