Pleasing Fungus Beetle

Pleasing Fungus Beetle

IDENTIFICATION:

Found in the Mountains of some Western States, the Pleasing Fungus Beetle has a shiny grayish blue or violet colored hard shell with black dimples. The rest of their bodies are a shiny black. Like all insects they have wings and six legs, and as beetles they have a hard sheath-like structure that protects their wings. This is called the elytra.

You can find them near rotten wood or on tree trunks and branches in forests or near streams where there is a lot of moisture. They can be found in the summertime, and most often after summer monsoon rains.

In Colorado, they can be found in Ponderosa Pine at lower elevations and in Aspen trees in higher elevations.

DIET:

They enjoy eating fungus, hence their name. The adults will also eat nectar and pollen. The larvae feed mostly on bracket fungi, which is a good place to locate both larvae and adult pleasing fungus beetles.

LIFE CYCLE:

The beetles overwinter as adults, in warm places protected from the cold, and in the fall females will lay their eggs on fungus; so that when the eggs hatch the young have an immediate food source. The larvae are black and white and wormlike, with spikey fringes on their sides.

These beetles are harmless, so it is okay to pick them up, but remember to be gentle!

SOURCES:

Firefly Forest.net

http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2008/12/24/pleasing-fungus-beetle/

Insect Identification.org

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Pleasing-Fungus-Beetle

University of Colorado Boulder

http://artsandsciences.colorado.edu/magazine/2011/08/the-curious-color-of-the-blue-fungus-beetle/