Beetle Questions
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LOOKING FOR PICTURES OF
LIGHTNING BUGS:
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I am an art student in Utica, New
York. I am trying to find pictures of
fireflies/lightning bugs in order to
make a large sculpture. I have found
some, but what I really need are
pictures that show the firefly in
flight. Any suggestions, sources or
websites would be greatly appreciated.
(Tue, 30 Jan 2001) |
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Answer |
California has no luminescent
fireflies so we can't help you with
pictures of our own. There are a
number of places which do research on
the group however. Perhaps try
Lampyridae in addition to searching
under firefly to see what web sites
come up. Also Luciferase is the enzyme
used as part of the chemical pathway
towards glowing. See if that gives any
good sites that have the beetles doing
what you want them to. Furthermore a
bunch of research has been done on the
group in the past. A literature search
should give you a number of research
articles some of which muct have
pictures of the insects in flight. |
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LOOKING
FOR PICTURES OF SCARAB BEETLES:
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Email |
I would like to know if you have any
pictures of the scarab beetle that is
only found in only Egypt. (Tue, 09 Jan
2001) |
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Answer |
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FLESH
REMOVING BEETLES??:
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I am interested in a particular
beetle used in taxidermy to remove the
flesh from the skull of animals. This
is called a European mount and I want
to start doing this. (Mon, 8 Jan 2001) |
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Answer |
the beetles in the family
Dermestidae are the group you want to
look at and the genus is Dermestes is
the genus which has been used to clean
skulls, etc... We don't know where you
can get them however... |
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A
BEETLE THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE A STONE:
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Email |
I recently saw what appeared to be a
stone on my white bedroom carpet in
Marin County. I turned the
"stone" over and saw six
small thin black legs moving under
this green beetle with irregular white
markings. I placed the beetle in a
glass jar and went to Border's
Bookstore in San Rafael and carefully
looked through three books; Peterson
guide, Simon and Shuster and a book
named An Inordinate Fondness for
Bettles by Evans. Alas, I saw nothing
like it in any of the insect or beetle
books. It was the size of the stone of
a large opal ring. On its back was an
indentation. Could you please tell me
what I found? If need be I would take
the bug to you or shoot its shoot its
photograph.
Please tell me your business
address so that I can bring you this
wonderful bug. I went on a vacation
and just returned. |
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Answer |
It would be difficult to tell you
what you have without a picture. If
you could either send us one, or the
actual insect we would have a better
chance of giving you its name.
the best address to send the beetle
would be: 201 wellman hall, division
of insect biology, university of
california, berkeley, ca 94720. I
can't guarantee an identification. I
can promise to try and I will ask more
knowledgeable colleagues. but the
process could take a few days. If you
don't want to part with the specimen,
then send us a picture of the top and
bottom and chances are we might be
able to get it from that. |
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IDENTIFICATION
OF LARVAE ON A WOOD PILE:
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Email |
Hello and thanks for your
informative page. We have a wood pile
which is turning to powder. The wood
is California Bay and Incense Cedar. A
3-4 mm white larva is chewing away and
appears to emerge (or enter?) through
a 2 mm hole. Can you help me with the
name of the species and a bit about
it's life cycle? (Sun, 24 Dec 2000) |
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Answer |
Sorry for the delay in responding to
your question. There are a wide
variety of families of beetle that
could be causing the damage you are
seeing. Not only Bostrichids, but also
Lyctidae and even some Anobiids bore
into seasoned wood. Fortunately they
do have similar life cycles. The
adults lay eggs on the seasoned wood
and the larvae bore in. they feed and
grow and they make tunnels through the
wood. the amount of time they spend in
the wood depends on the species and
outside temperatures. If what you are
seeing is a white larva, then it is
almost certainly staying put in the
wood. The larvae of some wood boring
beetles may leave the wood to pupate
but then they would not return to the
wood until they had pupated and
emerged as adults. Other larvae pupate
right in the wood and emerge as adults
through larval-made holes. |
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LADY
BUGS OVER POPULATING IN OUR HOME:
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We are experiening lady bugs in our
home. We do not want to hurt or kill
them but they are becoming a nuisance.
Please advise. (Tue, 13 Feb 2001 ) |
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Answer |
It is likely that the ladybugs were
looking for a roosting place for the
winter and chose a place next to your
house. As temperatures fluctuaute the
aggregation may have found its way
into your house. Typically these
beetles stay in a large mass until
spring and then disperse. While Spring
may be a long time to wait, the
beetles will cause no harm to your
house as they feed soley on
soft-bodied insects. What is more
likely is that the heat of your house
will cause them to burn up their fat
reserves and die of starvation in your
house. There may not be much you can
do at this point. To prevent this from
happeneing in the future you may want
to walk around your house and find out
where they are coming in from. Sealing
that up might help stop a repeat
performance. It is likely that the
aggregation formed in a sheltered spot
like a woodpile and that form there
they found a way into the house. |
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LADYBUGS
FOUND IN KENTUCKY:
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Email |
We recently stayed in a hotel room
in Frankfort, KY which had several
colonies of ladybugs on the ceiling.
They looked like your image of the
ladybird beetle only of a slightly
more brownish color. Are they related?
I hear they are beneficial. We seem to
have brought some home. Can they be a
problem indoors? (Tue, 14 Nov 2000) |
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Answer |
Yes the ladybugs in Kentucky are
related to the ones we have here. they
are in the same family of beetles, and
probably have fairly similar life
cycles. although they might specialize
on eating different insects. It does
sound like they might be a different
species though. Ladybugs eat a variety
of soft-bodied insects which includes
harmful plant pests like aphids,
scales, mealybugs and whiteflies. So
for nearly everyone they are
beneficial, and importnant in
controling these pests-even in home
gardens. The ladybugs will not do well
indoors and will probably die in a few
days. they need to rest quietly in a
cool, sheltered place for the winter.
They are unlikely to live for long or
cause you any problems inside. |
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TOO
MANY LADY BUGS:
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Email |
WE ARE EXPERIENCING LADY BUGS IN OUR
HOME.WE DO NOT WANT TO HURT OR KILL
THEM BUT THEY ARE BECOMING A NUISANCE.
PLEASE ADVISE
Thank You for responding to my
question regarding the Lady Bugs
problem that I am experiencing.
Perhaps you can suggest what I should
do at this stage. The lady bugs are
found throughout our Home either alive
or dead and I wish I could prevent
this from happening . I know that you
can only Suggest to live with it , but
I would prefer to come up with a
solution since I feel terrible that
these Harmless bugs are dying. Thank
you again for your advise. (Sun, 18
Feb 2001) |
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Answer |
These are no doubt the Asian Lady
Bird beetle, Harmonia axyiridis, an
introduced species that is known to do
this but they are friendly!!!! It is
likely that the ladybugs were looking
for a roosting place for the winter
and chose a place next to your house.
As temperatures fluctuaute the
aggregation may have found its way
into your house. Typically these
beetles stay in a large mass until
spring and then disperse. While Spring
may be a long time to wait, the
beetles will cause no harm to your
house as they feed soley on
soft-bodied insects. What is more
likely is that the heat of your house
will cause them to burn up their fat
reserves and die of starvation in your
house. There may not be much you can
do at this point. To prevent this from
happeneing in the future you may want
to walk around your house and find out
where they are coming in from. Sealing
that up might help stop a repeat
performance. It is likely that the
aggregation formed in a sheltered spot
like a woodpile and that form there
they found a way into the house.
I don't think you should live with
it but you must find out how the
beetles are getting into your home and
seal it off. You can use a vacuum
cleaner to collect the beetles and
then release them outside. A dust
buster would be better if you have one
as they are not so powerful. You may
have to put a small muslin bag in the
dust buster to collect the beetles.
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