Scarabs Are Here
It rained briefly on Friday night, bringing out chafer beetles in respectable numbers. The plant-eating beetles are in the same family as scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) Yesterday evening, I found over a dozen hanging out around the lights of my apartment complex. These beetles are easily spooked, dropping off of the stucco wall and onto the ground when I got too close. On the way out this evening, I spooked one (of three) from a well-lit wall of my complex and when I returned a half hour later, it was still playing dead.
These chafer beetles (Serica perigonia) are one of 40 Serica found in California. They are brown, reddish brown, to black in color, have a subtle iridescence under strong light, and measure 7-9 mm in body length. The three Serica perigonia I caught each measure about 9 mm. At first look, I thought that their coloring look a bit drab, but when I photographed them using my ring flash, the iridescence of their elytron really came out.
Notice their beautiful fork-like antennae (called lamellate antennae) in the photo above.
No, the beetle isn’t dead in the photo above. It feigns death for long periods of time when it feels threatened.
I captured three and brought them into my apartment to take a few photos. I placed them on my desk in a glass vial next to a vial of dead beetles I found in the Mojave a few weeks ago. I had hoped to identify the Mojave beetle specimens eventually but hadn’t made much progress… until now! Incredibly, three living Serica perigonia were able to help my identify the three dead beetles as Serica perigonia. I probably wouldn’t have been able to ID them if I had not placed them together on my desk. What’s the chances of that?
If you want to see more photos of California scarab beetles, check out the punctate bear beetles (Paracotalpa puncticollis) I photographed in Joshua Tree a few weeks ago and blogged here.
Resources:
- Field Guide to Beetles of California by Arthur V. Evans and James N. Hogue
- Bugguide.net – Family Scarabaeidae – Scarab Beetles
- Cockchafers or ‘Maybugs’ and other Chafers
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Moe