Q: I found several of these beetles in an old decaying stump and am concerned for my healthy trees. Will they attack live trees?
A: No, these beetles feed on rotting wood and the fungi decaying it, and they pose no threat to other trees. Several common names are given to them: Patent-leather Beetle, Bess Bug, and Horned Passalus.
These insects have a rare life history in that they live in groups and provide parental care for their larvae, feeding them pre-chewed rotting wood, likely for over a year while the young mature slowly.
The feature I find the most entertaining about them is their ability to squeak. Both adults and larvae can stridulate, which means they use one body part to rasp against another to create noise. The purpose of this is probably to communicate with each other. Cricket chirping and katydid calling are forms of stridulation, but in the case of these beetles, it produces more of a high-pitched sound akin to a person making “kissy” noises at a pet.
Interestingly, Iowa State University’s BugGuide web page for Bess Beetles speculates that the “bess” part of its name might derive from baiser, French for “to kiss.” (Or it’s derived from the fact that their forward-facing jaws can pinch, though I’ve never been bothered and I pick up these beetles every time I see them because they’re fun to find. “Petting” them sometimes makes them stridulate, which is always endearing.)
Wood-recycling insects like these are great to have around and rarely if ever pose a risk to healthy plants. Not only do they get those old stumps and logs out of the way for free (even though it can take a while), but both they and the fungi they work with are a means to make the old tree’s nutrients available again to the rest of the ecosystem.
By Miri Talabac, Horticulturist, University of Maryland Extension Home & Garden Information Center. Miri writes the Garden Q&A for The Baltimore Sun and Washington Gardener Magazine. Read more by Miri.
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Thank you for this! Bess beetles have always been one of my favorites. I’ve endeared them to many children by having the beetles “whisper” secrets in their ears via stridulation.
A beetle that cares for its young for up to a year! Learned a lot in this blog, including a new word “stridulate”. Thanks