This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2022) |
Cotinis nitida | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Scarabaeidae |
Genus: | Cotinis |
Species: | C. nitida |
Binomial name | |
Cotinis nitida | |
Cotinis nitida, commonly known as the green June beetle, June bug or June beetle, [1] is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in the eastern United States and Canada, where it is most abundant in the South. It is sometimes confused with the related southwestern species figeater beetle Cotinis mutabilis , which is less destructive.
The green June beetle is active during daylight hours. The adult is usually 15–22 mm (0.6–0.9 in) long with dull, metallic green wings; its sides are gold and the head, legs and underside are very bright shiny green. Their habitat extends from New Brunswick to Georgia, and as far west as California, with possible population crossover in Texas with their western cousin, the figeater beetle.
The green June beetle is a part of the Scarabaeidae family, with defining characteristics such as modified forewings called elytra sinuate, and a prominent mesosternum. The scutellum is covered by the prothorax attached to the base node. The Cotinis genus is separated by the male species having a small horn on the lower portion of the face (clypeus). [1]
This beetle species differs from the common brown May or June beetle by its larger body index and vibrant color. This varies from a green striped, brown beetle to a full velvet green body. [2] The insects' margins are usually light brown or yellow with a metallic green or brown underside. The insect is typically ¾-1.5 inches in length. Compared to the legs of a common June beetle, the legs are shorter, and the body is stouter. [3]
The complete life cycle for the green June beetle is one year. [4]
Mating occurs in the early morning. The male is attracted by a strongly scented milky fluid secreted by the female. Mating lasts only a few minutes after which the female enters her burrow or crawls under matted grass. Once the mating process has taken place, the female will lay between 60 and 75 eggs underground during a two-week period. The eggs, when first laid, appear white and elliptical in shape, gradually becoming more spherical as the larvae develop. The eggs hatch in approximately 18 days into small, white grubs.
The grubs will grow to about 40 mm (1.6 in) and are white with a brownish-black head and brown spiracles along the sides of the body. The larvae will molt twice before winter. The fully grown larva color is glassy yellowish white shading toward green or blue at the head and tail. The larva has stiff ambulatory bristles on its abdomen which assist movement. The larva normally travels on its back. The underground speed is considered more rapid than any other known genus of Scarabaeidae in the United States and is comparable to that of the hairy caterpillar. The larvae feed largely on humus and mold but can do considerable damage to plant root systems. Injury has been reported to vegetables and ornamental plants, particularly those which have been mulched. The larvae are considered pests when they cause damage to lawns or turf grasses. The insect is considered more injurious in its larval stages than as a beetle. Pupation occurs after the third larval stage, which lasts nearly nine months. The pupal stage occurs in an oval cocoon constructed of dirt particles fastened together by a viscid fluid excreted by the larva. The pupa is white when first formed but develops greenish tints just before emergence.
The adults begin to appear in June[ citation needed ] after 18 days of the pupation period. The adult is from 15–22 mm (0.6–0.9 in) in length and 12 mm (0.5 in) in width. The color varies from dull brown with green stripes to a uniform metallic green. The margins of the elytra vary from light brown to orange yellow. The adult beetle will feed upon a variety of fruits including berries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears and figs. Adults are particularly attracted to rotting fruit which often occurs after an initial damage to sound fruit.
The grubs of the beetle are largely held in control by natural predators. [4]
Adult beetles are often eaten by birds, including robins, blue jays, and brown thrashers. Blue jays either immediately consume the beetle or repeatedly slam them into the ground before eating them. [2]
Tall grasses offer beetles some protection, but they are easily hunted by birds in lawns with shorter grasses maintained by human interventions. [3]
There is intense competition between males for access to mates and oftentimes more than one male tries to mate with a female at the same time. Part of this competition is because females are only receptive to mating attempts once in a given period of time, whereas males can mate repeatedly. [5]
The larval stages of the friendly fly or large flesh fly ( Sarcophaga aldrichi) have been observed attached near the base of the head and thorax of the adult beetle. The fly larvae have been observed inside the devoured thorax and abdomen of the beetle.
The flesh fly (Sarcophaga helicobia) has been observed to prey on both the larval and adult stage of the June beetle.
The digger wasp (Scolia dubia) attacks the larval stage of the beetle. The female will crawl into the larva burrow and lay her eggs on the grub.
Below ground, large number of larvae are consumed by moles. During rainy periods, when the burrows of the larvae are flooded, the larvae will crawl to the surface. At these times, the larvae are subject to predation by raccoons, gophers, skunks, opossums, and chipmunks. Birds, notably the American crow, common grackle, northern mockingbird and blue jay, will also attack the adult.
The geographic range of Cotinis nitida extends across the eastern United States and Canada, with its highest abundance in the South. They can be found from New Brunswick to Georgia and westward as far as California, with possible population overlap with their western cousin, the figeater beetle (Cotinis mutabilis). [6] [7]
The green June beetle is a Neartic species of beetle. It is commonly found in New York, Florida, Nebraska, and Texas. Larvae of green June beetles live in the soil underground, and adults live on their host plants. They can be found on lawns, fields, and forests. They inhabit extensive habitats. [8]
Green June beetles are common during the warmer months, more specifically June. During the summer months is usually when they reproduce, which is why they are more abundant during that time. The warmer months provide an organic matter in the soil that the females place the eggs in, which allows the green June beetle larvae to feed after they hatch. [9]
As adults, green June beetles are common during the springtime because plants are flourishing. These beetles can be seen around garden-like areas because they feed on the decomposing plants. [10] Green June beetles are likely to be on an older field than a newly developed field, as the older field contains a high amount of organic matter. [11]
Cotinis nitida can be prevented from causing large damage to crops by covering crops in pesticide. [12] Pesticide usage can build up in water runoff and effect local communities and their water supply, leading to an increase in spending involving water purification. This increase in pesticides also causes issues involving cattle, mainly swine, and may cause health defects. Attempting to use these pesticides may cause a loss in other areas of earnings involving these same farms. [13]
Green June beetles often follow other predatory bug species in consuming plants, as they do not typically consume fruits which have not already been broken open. [14] As such, if other predatory insects are kept from crops, the green June beetle should not become an issue in terms of gross earnings for any specific crop.
The Japanese beetle is a species of scarab beetle. Due to the presence of natural predators, the Japanese beetle is not considered a pest in its native Japan, but in North America and some regions of Europe, it is a noted pest to roughly 300 species of plants. Some of these plants include rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees, and others.
The common cockchafer, also colloquially known as the Maybug, Maybeetle, or doodlebug, is a species of scarab beetle belonging to the genus Melolontha. It is native to Europe, and it is one of several closely-related and morphologically similar species of Melolontha called cockchafers, alongside Melolontha hippocastani.
Leptoconops torrens is a species of small biting flies in the no-see-um family Ceratopogonidae. They were first mentioned in writing by Charles Henry Tyler Townsend in 1893. The name Leptoconops carteri is a junior synonym of L. torrens. They are prevalent in the southwestern and southeastern areas of the United States. In early stages of life, L. torrens flies dwell in soil, then emerge to feed and breed as fully developed adults.
Dynastes tityus, the eastern Hercules beetle, is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the Eastern United States. The adult's elytra are green, gray or tan, with black markings, and the whole animal, including the male's horns, may reach 60 mm (2.4 in) in length. The larvae feed on decaying wood from various trees.
The Hessian fly or barley midge, Mayetiola destructor, is a species of fly that is a significant pest of cereal crops, including wheat, barley and rye. Though a native of Asia, upon its discovery it was believed to have been transported into North America in the straw bedding of Hessian troops during the American Revolution (1775–1783), thus the origin of its common name. However, the report of an inquiry made in 1788 by Sir Joseph Banks states that "no such insect could be found to exist in Germany or any other part of Europe". Nonetheless, it appears that this species, or one exactly like it in habits, had been known for at least a century prior to the American Revolution from a locality near Geneva, and also for a long time from some regions in France.
The Goliath beetles are any of the six species in the genus Goliathus. Goliath beetles are among the largest insects on Earth, if measured in terms of size, bulk and weight. They are members of subfamily Cetoniinae, within the family Scarabaeidae. Goliath beetles can be found in many of Africa's tropical forests, where they feed primarily on tree sap and fruit. Little appears to be known of the larval cycle in the wild, but in captivity, Goliathus beetles have been successfully reared from egg to adult using protein-rich foods, such as commercial cat and dog food. Goliath beetles measure from 60–110 millimetres (2.4–4.3 in) for males and 50–80 millimetres (2.0–3.1 in) for females, as adults, and can reach weights of up to 80–100 grams (2.8–3.5 oz) in the larval stage, though the adults are only about half this weight. The females range from a dark chestnut brown to silky white, but the males are normally brown/white/black or black/white. Goliath beetles, while not currently evaluated on the IUCN Red List, are facing growing conservation challenges across their African range due to habitat loss, over-collection for the international pet trade, and the potential impacts of climate change.
Phyllophaga is a very large genus of New World scarab beetles in the subfamily Melolonthinae. Common names for this genus and many other related genera in the subfamily Melolonthinae are May beetles, June bugs, and July beetles. They range in size from 12 to 35 mm and are blackish or reddish-brown in colour, without prominent markings, and often rather hairy ventrally. These beetles are nocturnal, and are attracted to artificial lights in great numbers.
Lasioderma serricorne, more commonly referred to as the cigarette beetle, cigar beetle, or tobacco beetle, is a small beetle that shares a resemblance with the drugstore beetle and the common furniture beetle. The cigarette beetle, along with the drugstore and furniture beetles, all belong to the beetle family Ptinidae. The cigarette beetle can be distinguished from A. punctatum by its flatter thorax, whereas A. punctatum boasts a humped thorax. The cigarette beetle can be further differentiated from S. paniceum by its uniformly serrated antennae with unmodified apex, unlike the three-segmented apical "club" of S. paniceum. Additionally, L. serricorne has no evident grooves in its elytra, or hardened wing covers, compared to A. punctatum and S. paniceum which both have grooves.
Lampyris noctiluca, the common glow-worm of Europe, is the type species of beetle in the genus Lampyris and the family Lampyridae.
Melolonthinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetles. It is a very diverse group; distributed over most of the world, it contains over 11,000 species in over 750 genera. Some authors include the scarab subfamilies Euchirinae and Pachypodinae as tribes in the Melolonthinae.
Macrodactylus subspinosus is a North American beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. The members of its genus are known as "rose chafers", not to be confused with the European rose chafer, Cetonia aurata. M. subspinosus occurs from Eastern Canada to Colorado and is considered a pest of many crops and flowers. It is given its common name of rose chafer because it eats the leaves of roses, although it also feeds on many other plants.
Agrotis ipsilon, the dark sword-grass, ipsilon dart, black cutworm, greasy cutworm or floodplain cutworm, is a small noctuid moth found worldwide. The moth gets its scientific name from black markings on its forewings shaped like the letter "Y" or the Greek letter upsilon. The larvae are known as "cutworms" because they cut plants and other crops. The larvae are serious agricultural pests and feed on nearly all varieties of vegetables and many important grains.
Cotinis mutabilis, also known as the figeater beetle, is a member of the scarab beetle family. It belongs to the subfamily Cetoniinae, comprising a group of beetles commonly called flower chafers since many of them feed on pollen, nectar, or petals. Its habitat is primarily the southwestern United States and Mexico. Figeater beetles are often mistaken for green June beetles and occasionally Japanese beetles, which occur in the eastern US.
The European chafer is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. Formerly found only in continental Europe, this invasive species is now found at temperate latitudes in North America. The large, white grubs of A. majale feed on the roots of most cool-latitude grasses, both wild and cultivated. This has made the European chafer an enemy of lawns.
Phyllopertha horticola, the garden chafer or garden foliage beetle, is a beetle from the family Scarabaeidae. Phyllopertha horticola was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Pyronota festiva, commonly known as mānuka beetle or mānuka chafer, is a member of the genus Pyronota of the beetle family Scarabaeidae. It is a scarab beetle endemic to New Zealand, and is commonly found in mānuka trees, hence the beetle's name. In some areas it is considered a pasture pest.
Maladera formosae, commonly known as the Asiatic garden beetle and formerly known as Maladera castanea, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is native to Japan, China, South Korea, North Korea, and Russia but was introduced to North America in the 1920s where it is considered a pest of turfs, gardens, and crop fields. Adults are active in the summer during which they can be found feeding on leaves and flowers or gathering around light sources at night.
Cyclocephala lurida, the southern masked chafer, is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae which is native to the southeastern United States. It is a brown beetle with a black head, with an adult length of 10 to 14 mm. The adult beetles cause no harm, but the eggs are laid underground and the developing larvae feed on grass roots and can kill turf under dry conditions.
Meloe americanus is a type of blister beetle (Meloidae) found in North America. It is most relevant to the fields of agriculture and veterinary medicine. Adult beetles feed on different types of plants, which cause crop damage. They also release a fluid containing a chemical that is toxic, and at high concentrations lethal, to mammals. The first instar larvae are uniquely active and mobile, utilizing phoresy and parasitism to feed and mature through their developmental stages.
The white worm beetle is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is the only species in the genus Hylamorpha. This beetle is native to South America, particularly in regions of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.