Thursday, February 25, 2010

Buggin' Out On Thursdays :: Egypt Isn't The Only Place For Green Metallic Scarabs!




A beautiful metallic green beetle known as the Fig-eater Beetle or June Beetle (Cotinis mutabilis) (Cotinis nitida) is one of the scarab beetles of Texas. Only three species of this type of beetle are found in Texas and this guy was crawling on my flagstone patio in a great hurry to get somewhere. Under those two plates of "metal" are the wings of the scarab. This beetle reminds me of a little inch long mini-tank. The above is the only photo I was able to take of him so I'm also sharing a really awesome shot of one from ThreadedThoughts on Flickr:

June Bug by ThreadedThoughts

These beetles are known by fruit farmers as pests because of their love for thin-skinned fruits like figs, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, and grapes. They don't have powerful jaws so they can't bite into any thick-skinned fruits (including your fingers). You can pick them up and hold them if you are so inclined. They are harmless to humans but due to their plump bodies they tend to fly in a haphazard manner so it's easy to have one bean you in the head if you aren't paying attention!

What kind of bugs have you seen lately?

2 comments:

  1. I love the shiny green color. But yuck, I don't like beetles. Nasty.

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  2. I've never seen one of these before so I wish I would have taken a few more photographs. I'm just glad it wasn't flying! :P

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