Category Archives: Insects – Beetles

Milkweed Borer

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While checking out a some roadside Milkweed plants, I noticed a few of these bright red beetles known as Milkweed Borers. They spend almost all of their time on Milkweed, where they rest, feed, and mate.

Milkweed Borers can make at least two sounds. A “squeaking” noise may be produced if they are held, apparently it is used as a warning signal. A second “purring” noise has also been reported in some species – this may be used in communication between potential mates.

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Before feeding on Milkweed leaves, the beetle drains the sticky, toxic sap of the plant by biting the part of the leaf that carrys the sap. Although colorful, Milkweed Borers are small, usually only about 3/4 of an inch long.

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Majestic Long-horned Beetle

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Have you ever nearly freaked out when you unexpectedly found a large bug crawling on you? That’s what happened today after I came in from doing some yardwork and saw this huge beetle crawling on my shirt.

It’s a Majestic Long-horned Beetle. Longhorns are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle’s body.

There are 35,000 species of Long-horned Beetles worldwide. These are large, impressive insects. Here’s a different species that I caught in Nevada. It’s the biggest beetle I’ve ever seen in the wild.

The Majestic’s habitat is mature ash trees (I have several Blue Ash Trees in my backyard). They spend their larval life boring in wood and are sometimes known as Wood Boring Beetles.

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Bess Beetles

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Walking around in the woods on a windy, thirty-something degree day may not seem to be the ideal conditions to observe wildlife. But just by turning a few sun-warmed logs, a “hidden treasure” of invertebrates can be found. At over an inch in length, a Bess Beetle was the largest of the creatures I came across.

The Bess Beetle can give you some idea on how complex life can be – even for an insect. They communicate with each other through squeaking and clicking noises. Their larvae can also make sounds. Bess Beetles have distinct sounds that communicate different messages such as aggression or courtship signals.

There are only two species of Bess Beetles in the United States, though a couple more have occasionally shown up from across the Mexican border. There are over 500 species in the tropics. Their entire life cycle is spent in darkness inside standing and fallen dead timber.

Unlike many insects, Bess Beetles take care of their young. Adults prepare decaying wood for the larvae by chewing and mixing it with saliva. The also help their larvae construct a pupal case for the life stage of the insects undergoing transformation to adults. One remarkable aspect of the Bess Beetle social system is that adult males help care for the young, a phenomenon almost unheard of among insects.

Another common name is Patent Leather Beetle, due to its shiny black sheen. They live in their adult form for over a year, which is a long time for a beetle. Although they may look intimidating, I’ve handled many and have never been bitten.

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