The Scarabs, Holy Beetles and much more!

By Al Lowe
Contributor

There are many families of beetles in the world. One of the largest is the Scarabinae. This consists mostly of Dung Beetles and Tumblebugs. And a lot of them are really strange.
Now, Dung Beetles live on dung mostly. A lot of them have a peculiar habit of rolling soft dung up into a ball, and then burying it in the ground. This is not just for fun. When the larvae hatch out, they have a food supply right at hand, and burying the ball gives it quite a bit of protection.
Some of these beetles are fairly big, up to nearly 3 inches in length, and some are really tiny, down to half a millimeter or so. And they come in all colours, from dull black to very bright brown. A few are really quite colourful, shiny green all over or with coloured bars on their outer wings. And some of them have a horn on top of their heads or maybe two or three.
Incidentally, the common June Bug, which we all know when it gets into our lawns and gardens, is a member of this family. This bug, as an adult is not too bad, just a nuisance, but the larvae are the white grubs, which feed on the roots of plants and can do a lot of harm to your garden or lawn. Skunks find them just great to eat, so don't be too hard on the skunks which dig up your lawn at night.
In acnient Egypt, the scarab was a sacred insect, and was fully protected. If anyone killed or damaged this bug, he was very likely to to handed over to the official executioner. There are stories of the Pharoah moving his entire army left or right to avoid having this beetle trampled by the horses, or the soldiers.
The Tumblebugs have some odd habits, too. We do have them here, in Northwestern Ontario. They chew off a piece of dung in a pasture field, say. And then they form it into a ball and roll it. Usually two beetles work at the same time. One pushes and one pulls. When they find a suitable place, they bury it a few inches down. You can watch this endeavour in a field almost anywhere.
Chafers are also in this group. They feed on flowers and foliage of roses, grapes, and lots of other plants. If chickens eat a lot of chafers, they usually get sick, and some die. One of the serious pests in this bunch is the Japanese Beetle. This came to North America about 1916, since then, it has spread all over the U.S. and Canada. It is a serious pest on lawns, fruit trees and even golf courses. And there are some others which are called Elephant Beetles or Hercules Beetles. As you might guess, these are big bugs, some as much as two and a half inches long.
And then there are the Click Beetles. There are a lot of these. You may have heard one in the woods or in a log fireplace. They make a very pronounced 'click'. This is not made by the legs at all. If you put one of these beetles on its back, it will bend its head and thorax (the abdomen part) back. Then it snaps back with a sudden click. If it doesn't land on its feet, it will keep, going until it does. The largest of these is the Eye Click Beetle. This one is greyish, but it has two prominent eye spots. These are just spots and have nothing to do with eyes at all.
And another is the large group, the Fireflies or Glow-worms. Almost everybody has seen this insect. In our latitude, glow-worms are most active in the early summer. Members of this sub-family have a 'tail-light,' a segment at the back end of the bug which is able to produce light. This light is unique because it is 'cold' light. Almost a hundred percent of the energy is light. Compare this to an electric light bulb, whose energy is only about 10 percent light and 90 percent heat. Some day we may be able to reproduce this feat.
There are lots of others - Fungus Beetles, Carpet Beetles, Flat Bark Beetles, Shining Flower Beetles, Blister Beetles, the familiar Ladybugs and lots, lots more.
The Scarab family is a huge one indeed. There are about 90 subfamilies in this group. It includes some of our most interesting insects, as well as some of the most damaging ones in the world.