NorEaster
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Location: ma north east

These little buggers are everywhere...

I can't tell if they are eating anything though. I'm just curious if anyone has any information on them:

[img]https://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1505/buggert.jpg[/img]

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Kisal
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It might be a Goldsmith Beetle, Cotalpa lanigera. It's hard for me to tell, because I can't see the markings well. Did you use a flash for this pic, by any chance? :?

As you can see in this pic of a Goldsmith beetle from whatsthatbug.com, the lower legs are usually a darker color that those of the beetle in your pic.

[img]https://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/goldsmith_beetle_charlee.jpg[/img]

NorEaster
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Kisal wrote:Is the color in your pic true to life? I mean is the background bright yellow and the beetle plain shiny gold? It's a scarab beetle, and this time of year, one of the most prevalent is the Japanese beetle. I can't tell from your pic whether it has the usual markings, I.e. white hairs along the sides below the edge of the wing covers, etc. I can see the clubbed antennae, though, which is typical of scarabs. :?
Relatively true to life. I have been meaning to take a pic to identify this thing for awhile and as it happened this little injured guy dive-bombed my keyboard tonight and my cam was rite next to me. :P

The desktop is a cherry plywood I put together awhile back, I think the flash sort of exaggerates the color a little, and also reflected up onto him in the picture.

I'll get out tomorrow and get a picture of one in the natural sunlight. God knows they will be easy to find :roll:

overall I haven't had to much to worry about with stuff eating my plants. Just earwigs that violated my Basil plant (took care of that with a tub of molassas/soy sauce/vegetable oil), and a little baby rabbit that hops rite through the small openings in my fence.

Only a few plants have been hit hard. The earwigs like the green peppers, and Basil. The rabbit likes the parsley and an occasional tomato plant branch.

I'm curious if these little buggers are going to cause a problem later on down the road when the fruit starts ripening. Have tons of tomato's, and the green pepper/habanero are just starting to take shape.

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Kisal
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Have you checked out this [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27591]Japanese beetle thread[/url]? I have a strong feeling that's what the critter is. They have shiny copper-colored wing covers. Japanese beetles are all over the place east of the Rockies this time of year.

The wing covers on the beetle in your pic appear to not quite completely cover the back, which is a trait of the Japanese beetle. There also appear to be some hairs visible on the rear end, another trait of the Japanese beetle.

But Japanese beetles are coppery colored, not bright gold. That color is what's throwing me off. It sure is pretty, though! It would make a gorgeous lapel pin or tie tack! :lol:

cynthia_h
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Is it these?

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=118712

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

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Kisal
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Well, it might be, I suppose, but it doesn't look like one to me. The antennae tips of Metriona bicolor don't look clubbed, like those of NorEaster's specimen. (Or, I could just be getting bleary-eyed again! :lol: )

Here is Metriona bicolor, from waynesword.palomar.edu:

[img]https://waynesword.palomar.edu/images/turbee3c.jpg[/img]

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Kisal
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I suppose it could be one of the Jewel Scarabs of the Chrysina genus. The trouble is, the bright pure gold one doesn't live in the U.S. NorEaster says they're "all over the place," so unless they are recent invaders that I can't find any record of, I seriously doubt that's what it is. There are 4 Chrysina species that live in the U.S., but they're metallic green, usually with black or silver stripes on the wing covers.

This link is to a catalog of Chrysina species. Lots of neat pics, and it tells where they're found. :)

https://www.unl.edu/museum/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Scarabaeidae/Rutelinae/Rutelinae-Tribes/Rutelini/Chrysina/Chrysina-Catalog/ChrysinaC.html

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Kisal
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Could it be a Brown Chafer? They're very common in MA.

[img]https://www.turf.msu.edu/assets/ArticlePhotos/_resampled/LargePhoto-5171066UGAchafer.jpg[/img]

NorEaster
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Kisal wrote:Could it be a Brown Chafer? They're very common in MA.

[img]https://www.turf.msu.edu/assets/ArticlePhotos/_resampled/LargePhoto-5171066UGAchafer.jpg[/img]
Thanks for the reply's everyone!

kisal, I think you might have it there. It's been really hot and dry lately so they haven't been out much, I'm hoping to get a better pic this evening. They look very similar to this picture you posted though.

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Kisal
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I look forward to seeing another pic of the little beastie! :D

NorEaster
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Location: ma north east

Well this is about the best I could do, because they only seem to come out when it's getting dark/damp outside. The color in these pictures are much more accurate then the first one. :wink:

[img]https://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6921/dscf9259.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4487/dscf9255q.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6784/dscf9156.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img28.imageshack.us/img28/3255/dscf9252u.jpg[/img]

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Kisal
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Ah! Much better pics! Thanks! :)

I believe that is Anomala orientalis, commonly called the Oriental Beetle. There is another thread about them [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27490]here[/url].

Google Images will show you lots of pics of these little critters, but I think the best one is on bugguide. Unfortunately, the pictures won't show up here, so all I can post is a link.

https://bugguide.net/node/view/27543



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