Maxx's Bug
7:07 PM Posted In critters in my house , mommy realities Edit This 4 Comments »
While I was trying to convince Maxx to wash his hands this evening, we discovered this lovely creature in our bathroom, crawling on my bright coral bath towel. 
The photos don't quite do justice to how beautifully iridescent he is, but you can get a sense of his coloring and of how dirty Maxx's hands get.The best part of the discovery - Max saw CLOSE UP just how very dirty his hands were and agreed to actually wash with soap and water.
We would love to know more about this beetle - I've never seen one like him before and I'm wondering if he is part of a north-moving population responding to the warming of NNY.
4 comments:
I think I found out what it is
Adult broadhorned flour beetle (Gnatocerus cornutus)
Courtesy of Degesch Inc.
Description
The adult broadhorned flour beetle (Gnatocerus cornutus) is about 3.5 - 4.5 mm long and red-brown in colour.The feature which easily distinguishes it from other flour beetles is a pair of broad, stout horns on the mandibles of the male. The eyes are crescent shaped and the adults have been known to fly. The larvae are pale red-yellow and grow up to a length of 9 - 10 mm. They are mobile and not concealed.
Thanks, Deb! Could be - what quick research you do! I guess I had better do a springtime check of my grain storage and make sure that he is not part of a larger infestation. Sheesh. That would be just my luck!
Here's an interesting paper on identifying insects of stored grain. It's pretty cool.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7975199/Insects-of-Stored-GrainA-Pocket-Reference
Thanks for commenting on my blog, Virginia!
Your beetle is a flat bark beetle, in the genus Cucujus. They don't look like it, but that family is actually related to things like ladybirds and pleasing fungus beetles.
I'd try www.bugguide.net for online insect IDs. If you just post your pics there the community will often ID them for you.
Whew! Thank you, Alex, for identifying our bug and for the bugguide reference. I'm sure that we will have many more to identify now that Maxx knows he can make me photograph his lttle discoveries.
I'm so glad that this one is not a grain eating beetle! I thought he looked a little flat to match any of the beasties in the reference guide above.
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