Subject: Big Beatle
Location: Middle Tennessee
May 17, 2017 10:04 am
I live in the upper Cumberland platue area. I’m seeing these weird looking Beatles more and more in this area. Can you please tell me what they kind of bug this is. Thank you.
Signature: A.navarro

Eyed Elater

Dear A. Navarro,
This is an Eyed Elater, Alaus oculatus, the largest North American Click Beetle.  It is universally believed that the striking “eye spots” are protective markings that fool predators like birds into thinking the beetle is a threat as opposed to a tasty morsel.  According to BugGuide:  “Eggs are laid in soil. Larvae predators of beetle larvae in decaying wood, especially hardwoods. Pupation is in unlined cell underground or in rotting wood.”  If you live near a wooded area with rotting logs, it might explain the spike in the numbers of Eyed Elaters you are encountering.

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Subject: 1 in wbeetle with glowing eyes
Location: Puerto Rico
April 16, 2017 2:22 am
Saw this beetle in Puerto Rico- glow in the dark eyes like lightening bug color and about 1 inch long
Signature: Katie darrow

Fire Beetle

Dear Katie,
Based on some research we did many years ago, we learned that Fire Beetles in the genus Pyrophorus are sometimes called Cucujos.  What you have mistaken for glowing eyes are in fact just eyespots.  The Fire Beetle’s true eyes do not glow.

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Subject: What kind of Beetle is this?
Location: Southeastern United States
July 6, 2016 12:30 pm
This guy is in Middle Tennessee. I was wondering what kind of beetle this is, and are those really its eyes or just markings?
Signature: DL in TN

Eyed Elater

Dear DL in TN,
The large eyespots on the thorax of the Eyed Elater have evolved as protective mimicry.  A predator like a bird might be fooled into thinking that a tasty morsel is actually a much larger predator.

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Subject: Two interesting and beautiful bugs in Alaska
Location: Near Fairbanks Alaska
June 5, 2016 5:20 pm
Hello bugperson,
In the past week I have found two beautiful insects around our home in Fairbanks Alaska. I have looked through your site and also consulted Dr. Google, but have not yet been able to figure out what they might be. The yellowish metallic beetle is on an apple leaf. It was perhaps a half inch long. …  Thanks for any help you can give me.
Signature: bugalaska

Green Click Beetle

Dear bugalaska,
Your second beetle is a Click Beetle in the family Elateridae, and we quickly identified it as a Green Click Beetle, Nitidolimonius resplendens, thanks to a BugGuide posting where it is described as “The head, pronotum and underside are metallic purple and the elytra and legs are metallic green most of the time, but with a change in the light angle, the elytra edges turn purple. At other angles, the beetle is black, especially the underside, so it’s very hard to photograph.”  According to BugGuide, the habitat is:  “variously-aged coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests; on poplar (Populus), willow (Salix), or on shrubs; adults often found on the spring growth of conifers along margins of wetlands and drainages; boreomontane forest, prairie and parkland poplar groves; larvae in leaf litter and rotting wood.”

Thank you so much for the identification and got all the additional information!  You provide such a wonderful service to bug fanciers everywhere!

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Subject: Two green lights on its head at night
Location: The Bahamas
June 5, 2016 12:34 pm
Dear bugman,
Please tell me what this bug is
Signature: Ross Treubig

Glowing Click Beetle

Dear Ross,
Though there is not much visible in your image beyond the vague outline and the two bright green lights, there is no doubt in our mind that this is a Glowing Click Beetle or Fire Beetle in the genus Deilelater.  Most of our reports come from Florida, and occasionally from Texas, and recently we have been receiving many comments on old postings, leading us to believe there is a spike in populations of Glowing Click Beetles this year, but your image is the first we have received in many years.

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Subject: Is this a click beetle
Location: Costa rica
March 2, 2016 6:56 am
I saw this in the rain forest near limon in Costa rica. I think its a click beetle.
Signature: James Roberts

Click Beetle

Dear James,
This really is a pretty Click Beetle in the family Elateridae.  We believe we have correctly identified it as Semiotus insignis on the South Dakota State University site where the range is listed as “Mexico; Guatemala; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama.”  Clicking on the thumbnail produces this enlargement.  We found several other images of mounted specimens online, including this individual for sale on BugManiac, but we couldn’t locate a single image of a living individual.  That makes your submission unique on the web, at least for an identified individual.

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