Tag Archives: black beetle

Lepturopsis dolorosa

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It was overcast and cool the morning of July 25, 2026, but I went down to poke around in our overgrown, un-tended orchard to look at a parsley plant that had bloomed. Over the past few days, it had been attracting some flies I was interested in. Unfortunately, there was little to no activity of any sort to observe. I was about to walk back to the house when I spied this handsome black beetle on the bottom portion of the stalk of the lone parsley.

It was like the beetle had emerged from thin air. I know I had scanned all parts of the plant. Scoured is more like it. For days, I have been trying to find two particular flies (one a Spilomyia sp., and the other a Cylindromyia sp.). Unfortunately, neither were around. I’ll take the beetle as a win. This beetle is cool!

It’s a type of Longhorn beetle in the family Cerambycidae. The species is Lepturopsis dolorosa. I thumbed through my copy of Beetles of Western North America (by a great guy named Art Evans). I found my bug on page 467. The description matched. Size = about 11-12mm, head constricts abruptly behind eyes, pronotum is wider than long.

Adults are diurnal and known to feed on various spring and summer flowers. I didn’t find parsley on the list, but yarrow, ceanothus, elderberry, goldenrod, spirea, and mullein are some others listed. Beetle larvae are associated with Douglas fir. In Furniss and Carolin’s (1977) Western Forest Insects, I read that larvae in this group, formerly in Genus Anoplodera, develop in dead trees. This gives them the job of nutrient recycler! The range of geographic distribution is from British Columbia and Idaho, down to California.

The French meaning of this beetle’s name is pretty sad. Literally. Longicorne endeuillé translates to Sorrowful flower longhorn beetle. I wonder if the beetle is supposed to be sorrowful or if the flower the beetle visits is sorrowful?

Unfortunately, I did not find much in the way of information about this species on my usual go-to (bugguide.net), but I did contribute my images to the site.

Thanks for reading.

References

Evans, A.V. 2021. Beetles of Western North America. Princeton University Press. 624 p.

HARDY, G. A. 1942. Notes on some wood-boring beetles of Saanich, Vancouver Island, B. C. (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae & Buprestidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, Victoria 39: 9–13.

No Author. Lepturopsis dolorosa. 2026. Bugguide.net https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/167043

Odonteus obesus, the Geo-trooper

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Odonteus obesus

This is a post about one of the most unusual beetles I’ve ever found on San Juan Island. The species is Odonteus obesus. I’m hoping to attract a male specimen to my bug light after finding this female over the weekend, but haven’t had any luck yet. A few years ago, I found a male though. They are simply incredible, beautiful and weird all at once… like finding a unicorn in the forest. Literally! The male of this species has a sharply pointed unicorn horn that protrudes from the front of its head. If you are curious to see a male specimen, check out an earlier blog post I wrote about them here – https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/tag/odonteus-obesus/

These beetles are in the family Geotrupidae. “Geo” from Greek, meaning earth, and “trypetes” or “trupes” which means to bore or drill. In Europe, these beetles are referred to as dor beetles. “Dor” because they hum. Check out the etymology I’ve copied for you below for the word Dor.

Greek “dor” (δορ):. Primarily used in Proto-Indo-European languages, “dor” and “dorn” meant “bee,” “hornet,” or “drone,” as explained by Wiktionary. It’s related to the Middle English “dorre” and Old English “dora,” also meaning “humming insect,”. 

Geotrupid beetles live in the earth in burrows they excavate that can be up to 4 feet deep, often in material composed of dead leaves, cow or horse dung, or humus. We don’t have any horse or cow dung in our yard, so I’m guessing the decaying forest leaf litter is a suitable substrate for them or perhaps they are incorporating deer or the dung of other wildlife (fox, raccoon, or rodents) for use.

Why are Geotrupid beetles (and other dung beetles ) extremely beneficial? They are a source of food for other wildlife that eat them, but perhaps even more important for the role they play in improving soils by adding nutrients and removing animal waste. The beetle’s burrowing nature helps build healthy soil by incorporating organic matter, resulting in increased soil friability (it isn’t as clumpy), improved soil aeration, as well as improved water-holding capacity.

Additionally, these, and other species of dung beetles, have been found to be effective biological control agents for gastrointestinal parasites of livestock. In agricultural areas, they “clean” the pasture by removing manure or decomposing material as they burrow into the earth https://attra.ncat.org/publication/dung-beetle-benefits-in-the-pasture-ecosystem/.

Unfortunately, the increasing dependence of livestock producers on veterinary anthelmintic medications is threatening populations of nature’s best (and free) helpers. Many of the worming medications (like Ivermectin) given to livestock, pass through into the dung and then kill off the dung beetles when they feed. The result is an increased reliance on veterinary medications to control livestock pests and parasites and decreased pasture health because there is no beetle to break down the animal dung. As the pasture is littered with scattered dung, it becomes harder for the livestock to feed because they will avoid areas contaminated with dung.

To learn more about this species and other dung beetles, please check out the linked references below.

Thanks for reading!

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References and Further Reading

Brast, Cynthia. 2022. Radar love. Odonteus obesus. Bugging You From San Juan Island. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/tag/odonteus-obesus/

Bugguide.net. 2023. Geotrupidae Earth-Boring Scarab Beetles. Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/6810

Entomologist.net. No Date. Beetles Dor Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius) https://entomologist.net/beetles/62-geotrupes-stercorarius.html

Jameson, Mary Liz. 2005. Geotrupidae. Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles. UNL State Museum. https://unsm-ento.unl.edu/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Geotrupidae/Geotrupidae-Overview/GeotrupidaeO.html

Thomas, Michelle. 2001, and Rodriguez, O. 2020. Dung Beetle Benefits in the Pasture Ecosystem. ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture. National Center for Appropriate Technology. https://attra.ncat.org/publication/dung-beetle-benefits-in-the-pasture-ecosystem/

Radar Love

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Hello Everyone!  Meet my new bug friend, Radar Love ❤️  He must have crashed the wrong party.  Radar gone wrong!  I found him floating in our pool, in the midst of those raucous “dippers” (the Diplotaxis beetles).  Radar Love was so happy I didn’t let him drown, and even happier that I didn’t stick him with a pin and add him to the bug equivalent of a stamp collection.  We hung out together for a bit and I took some photos and video to remember him by.  Radar Love was released into the forest so he can make more of his kind.  

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Location:  San Juan Island

ID: Geotruipidae (Odonteus obsesus)

Special thanks to my friend, Michelle Sloan Bos and Tyler Hedlund for ID assistance with this.  I was rushing to get ready for my special spider outing.  More about that later.  For now, enjoy this rare and exciting  sighting of a most special little beetle that calls San Juan Island his home.  

More Info: https://bugguide.net/node/view/160586

Odonteus obesus

No Clowning Around in the Pool Without a Life Jacket.

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Yesterday I was the lifeguard. And, I had swimmers needing saving!

Hister Beetle (Genus Margarinotus I believe) – April 7, 2022 San Juan Island, WA

Here’s one of the species I used a piece of cardboard to rescue from drowning. This is a beetle in the family Histeridae, also known as a Clown Beetle. I told him no more clowning around without a life jacket. 🤣 Watch as it wrings its hindwings out, rolling them in under the leathery elytra (the outer wings).

I believe this beetle is in the genus Margarinotus. For ID beyond this, I’d need more time and a lot of patience. However, I can tell you I’ve learned some species of Hister beetles are associated with the nests of rodents, birds, and even ants and termites. They are pest predators, meaning they eat other insects at all life stages. They also are especially adept predators of fly eggs. You can often find them in leaf litter, dung, carrion, and under tree bark, or living in those ant mounds where they may be fed by ants, eat the leftovers the ants discard, or in some cases, they eat the ants!

Some other curious tidbits about these beetles include their acting ability. They play dead (Thanatosis) to deter predators. The word Hister is derived from Latin and means “Actor.”

Hister Beetle (I believe Margarinotus sp) – San Juan Island, WA

References:

Caterino, M. S. (2010). A review of California Margarinotus Marseul (Coleoptera: Histeridae: Histerinae: Histerini), with descriptions of two new species. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 64(1), 1-12. https://bioone.org/journals/The-Coleopterists-Bulletin/volume-64/issue-1/0010-065X-64.1.1/A-Review-of-California-Margarinotus-Marseul-Coleoptera–Histeridae/10.1649/0010-065X-64.1.1.pdf?casa_token=FFQE6VfrPhwAAAAA:6hS4kWWWX-lGeUPQFiU-7Dc2atg_nhsgP0almrxzvWjgwhxDLMShzekiAS7HWEKT5_AL2n4i

Wenzel, R. L. (1960). Three new histerid beetles from the Pacific Northwest, with records and synonymies of additional species (Coleoptera: Histeridae). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2847194