This WAYNE'S WORD Is Dedicated To
The Amazing Insects Known As Beetles

[No, not the two-legged musical variety from England, but the six-legged type with
a chitinous exoskeleton and a pair of leathery elytra covering their flight wings].


1. Are Rhinoceros & Hercules Beetles A Threat To Bikers?
2. Do Lightning Beetles Cause Forest Fires?
3. Is Spanish Fly Really A Fly From Spain?
4. Can Short Circuit Beetles Cause Blackouts?
5. Can Sunscreen Lotions Protect You From Blister Beetles?
6. Is It Politically Correct To Call Ladybird Beetles Ladybugs?
7. Do Dung Beetles Enjoy Rolling In Manure All Day?
8. Do Extraterrestrials Read WAYNE'S WORD?


An assortment of beetles.

One Fifth Of All The 1.5 Million Living Species On Earth Are Beetles!

There are more than 800,000 species of insects on earth, more than all the other plants and animals combined. Of this great number of insects, nearly half are beetles. Unlike other insects, beetles have a pair of leathery protective wings called elytra that cover their membranous flight wings. During flight, the elytra are spread apart and the two flight wings are unfolded and extended. Beetles come in a variety of shapes and colors, from red "ladybugs" and metallic green fig beetles to lightning beetles that glow in the dark and huge horned beetles resembling a miniature rhinoceros. Colorful beetles are used for jewelry and pins, and shiny tropical scarab beetles are strung together to make unusual necklaces. Beetles range in size from less than a millimeter (1/100 of an inch) to tropical giants over six inches long. The largest giants may weigh 40 million times more than their lilliputian relatives.

The world's largest beetle: Titanus giganteus, a member of the Cerambycidae native to South America. These large beetles can measure up to 170 mm (over 6 inches in length). Although the larvae are wood borers, the adults can inflict a painful bite. An adult male apparently bit and shattered a plastic ruler used as a size relationship by a photographer. One can only imagine what the powerful mandibles could do to your fingernail (or your finger). The giant beetle is compared with a minute flower beetle enclosed in a red circle. The flower beetle is only 4 mm in length (about 1/6th of an inch), smaller than the "foot" of Titanus giganteus. Other size relationships in this photo include the "head" of an ordinary straight pin, the "eye" of a sewing needle, and a millimeter ruler.

Size Relationships Used In Wayne's Word

One of the most amazing is the Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules), native to the rain forests of Central America. This spectacular beetle has two enormous curved horns and looks like a creature from the age of dinosaurs. In fact, it is truly amazing that this monster can actually fly. For many years, a bronze sculpture of this remarkable beetle stood at the entrance to the San Diego Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park. If all the different species of plants and animals on earth were randomly lined up, every fifth one would be a beetle. Beetles have taken seriously the injunction "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth."

Dynastes hercules, a spectacular hercules beetle from Costa Rica.

Male southwestern hercules beetle (Dynastes granti)
on display at the Red Rock State Park Visitor Center.

Dynastes granti, a female southwestern hercules beetle from Arizona.

Stag Beetle Family (Lucanidae)

Cottonwood stag beetle (Lucanus mazama).

The earliest known prehistoric beetles date back about 230 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. With the advent of flowering plants about 65 million years ago, speciation in beetles occurred at an astronomical rate as they began to exploit the rapidly evolving angiosperms. Hard bodies of beetles preserve very well, and fossil records of beetles are found throughout the evolution of flowering plants. One of the most interesting locations for beetle fossils is the La Brea formation at Mckittrick, California where numerous Pleistocene animals became entomed in tar pits over 10 million years ago. The tar pits were formed as crude oil seeped to the surface through fissures in the earth's crust. Evaporation of the oils resulted in a thick, sticky substance resembling asphalt. Some of the beetles embedded in these formations are perfectly preserved in every detail.

This beetle became trapped in a tar pit nearly 11 million years ago, at a time when large glaciers dominated the landscape in North America. The elytra (wing covers) of this beetle are perfectly preserved. The beetle appears to be a streamlined water beetle, possibly belonging to the family Dytiscidae.

A modern-day water beetle in the family Hydrophilidae. This is probably the giant black water beetle (Hydrophilus triangularis). Water beetles are descendants of terrestrial insects and have evolved a number of adaptations for living in water. The bodies are streamlined to reduce drag as they swim. The flattened short legs are fringed with hairs and serve to propel the beetle through water. While submersed these beetles obtain oxygen from a bubble of air stored under their inner wings (elytra) and along the ventral surface of their thorax.

Volumes have been written about the amazing world of beetles. Adult short circuit beetles (Scobicia declivis) bore into lead sheathing of telephone cables causing short circuiting when moisture enters the small holes. Trunks of native California fan palms in the southwestern U.S. often contain large circular tunnels, the work of huge boring larvae (Dinapate wrightii), a member of the family Bostrichidae. The hardwood floor beneath a palm trunk section at the San Diego Museum of Natural History was deeply grooved by one of these larvae. The adult beetle is truly bizarre. In the late 1800's museums paid up to $1,000 to an enterprising collector for one of these striking beetles. The collector (probably a business major) reportedly inflated the value of his merchandise by keeping their exact location a secret.

The larva and adult of the palm-boring beetle (Dinapate wrightii).

See Palm Wood Bored By Larva Of Dinapate wrighii

Stout's hardwood borer (Polycaon stouti), another member of the family Bostrichidae. This beetle has very destructive larvae, particularly if you have wood construction in your home made of oak and maple. The larvae of this beetle can even bore into furniture!

Bombardier beetles (Brachinus spp.) inject an explosive mixture of hydroquinone, hydrogen peroxide plus several potent catalysts into a reaction chamber in the abdomen. Catalase breaks down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas. Peroxidase oxidizes hydroquinone into benzoquinone. The mixture of chemicals and enzymes volatilizes instantly upon contact with the air, generating a puff of "smoke"" and an audible popping sound. This caustic flatulence is totally controlled by the beetle, otherwise it might accidentally blow up its rear end. The explosive discharge apparently discourages predators, either by chemical irritation, heat or repugnance. The temperature of the explosive mixture of gasses and fluids is over 100 degrees Celsius, the boiling point of water. This astonishing chemical defense mechanism is discussed by D.J. Aneshansley and T. Eisner (1969) in Science Vol. 165: 61-63.

Bombardier beetles of the genus Brachinus, a member of the large ground beetle family (Carabidae). These small beetles are about 13 mm long (1/2 inch). They are fairly common in southern California, particularly near streams, lakes and marshy areas. The wing covers (elytra) are dark blue-brown with a contrasting reddish-orange head and prothorax.

The body fluids of some blister beetles of the family Meloidae contain cantharidin, a substance that causes severe irritation and blistering of skin. This chemical is very sensitive to mucous membranes and is the active ingredient of "Spanish-fly," made from the ground up bodies of a European blister beetle (Lytta vesicatoria) . Although it has been used as a counterirritant, its use as an aphrodisiac is very unwise unless you are raising livestock or chickens.

Soldier blister beetles of the genus (Tegrodera).

A desert blister beetle (Lytta magister) on rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus).

The inflated blister beetle (Cysteodemus armatus), a curious beetle with a small head and inflated abdomen. Because it superficially resembles a spider it is sometimes called the desert spider beetle. This beetle feeds on ephemeral wildflowers as it scurries across sandy riverbeds and washes. The pitted back has several color variations.

Inflated Blister Beetles In Anza-Borrego Desert
See Desrt Blister Beetle In Anza-Borrego Desert
See An Amazing Bombardier Beetle (Brachinus sp.)

A metallic green fig beetle (Cotinus texana), so named because it is often found feeding on fig fruits during the warm summer months in southern California. It is also fond of other ripe, juicy fruits, such as peaches and plums. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the ground, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks.

A metallic green fig beetle (Cotinus texana) gorging itself inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Iridomyrmex humilis) are also foraging in the syconium, the beetle is protected by a tough, impervious exoskeleton.

See: Beware Of The Argentine Ants

The pine sawyer is one of the largest beetles in urbanized areas of southern California. It belongs to the long-horned beetle family (Cerambycidae) The large, pale larva, up to 2 1/2 inches (6.3 cm) long, feeds on the wood of fallen logs and old conifer stumps. The adult beetle in above photo is over 3 inches long (including the extended antennae). It has a pair of powerful jaws (mandibles) that are capable of inflicting a painful pinch. At least they can leave an imprint on a piece of cardboard! The adults emerge from subterranean stumps in early summer. They are nocturnal and are attracted to lights. It is always a surprise when one of these big beetles lands on your window screen.

An adult pine sawyer beetle (Ergates spiculatus).
[Thanks to Jim Hogue at CSUN for the correct ID of this species.]

Another long-horned wood-boring beetle (Prionus californicus). The
antennal segments of the male (in this photo) are conspicuously lobed.