When you think about what food beetles eat, it is tempting to say “almost everything.” Indeed, beetles eat everything from carrion to plants, carpet fibers, manure and roses in your garden, but not every beetle eats everything. Many are picky when it comes to their diet.
Perhaps beetles eat such a variety of foods because there are so many of them. These persistent insects have existed for at least 270 million years, are distributed in more than 400,000 species and make up 25 percent of the entire animal world. They are found everywhere except in the polar regions, and come in a variety of sizes, if not so many shapes. They are usually rounded, with hardened front wings that need to be raised during flight, and, with the exception of bubble beetles, they chew on their mouthparts. Let’s take a look at the diet of these insects:
What foods do beetles eat?
Since beetles eat so many different types of food, it can be helpful to list some of them and what they eat:
- Dung beetles – Dung beetles are a species of scarab and are found everywhere except Antarctica. Insects found in Scarabaeinae The family exclusively eats dung, while others sometimes eat rotting fruits, leaves, or mushrooms. Others are also predators that eat ants and millipedes. Beetles that eat nothing but dung get all their water and nutrients from the food source. These insects not only eat manure, but also like to roll it into small balls. The female lays an egg in the center of the ball, and both parents bury it. When the larva hatches, it begins to eat manure. One species of dung beetle travels through the stars, but scientists don’t know how they do it. Dung beetles are black, green, or bronze in color and range in size from 0.39 to 0.70 inches.
- Scavenger clown beetle – This little black beetle eats dead creatures and is partial to dead frogs and fish washed ashore. It is a tiny beetle, only 0.18 to 0.20 inches long, with short antennae and punctures in its upper wings that make it look like a boot button.
- Carpet Beetle – In all fairness, the carpet beetle does not eat carpet fibers. Its larvae do. The larvae eat not only carpets, but also clothing and upholstery if they are made from natural fibers such as wool or cotton. One thing that makes this beetle’s larvae so destructive is that they can remain as larvae for up to three years. Oddly enough, adults do not eat, but the female can lay up to 100 eggs.
- Ball weevil – Unfortunately, adults of this beetle eat, and they eat cotton buds and flowers. Not only adults, but also larvae infect plants. A native of Mexico, this insect somehow made its way to the southern United States towards the end of the 19th century and spent much of the 20th century devastating the cotton industry. Like other weevils, which by the way feed on plants from roses to chestnuts, agave and black-eyed peas, this beetle can be distinguished by its long, curved snout. It is not that big, about 0.24 inches long and has a grayish color.
Beetles also love to eat:
- Other insects, including bees, wasps, aphids and other plant pests and their larvae.
- Powdered milk, the favorite of the cuddly mushroom beetle
- pollen
- Nectar
- Spiders
- The bark and pith of a tree, like the larvae of an emerald ash moth
- Flour
- Many types of flowers, buds and leaves
- The wood of the floors and furniture is like a pine moth.
- Ripe fruit
- Plant roots, including root vegetables such as carrots (larvae)
- Rotting wood
- Mushrooms
- Small fish
- Snails and slugs
- Larvae Zophoba atratusthe larvae of black beetles, called black beetles, seem to thrive on styrofoam.
How do beetles hunt prey?
Beetles have several ways to hunt for prey. Sometimes only the larvae actually hunt, since the adults eat little or no food. But sometimes young adults and adults alike follow the same diet. The ladybug beetle flies to a place where prey is likely to be, and lays eggs under the leaf of the plant. When the larvae hatch, both the adults and the larvae mow down aphids, scale insects, or anything else that infects the plant.
Scafinotus angustifolia is a long-legged black beetle native to North America. Flightless, he hunts and eats snails. It travels the land in search of prey under logs, and when it finds a snail, it uses its long mouthpieces to penetrate the shell and eat the meat. The beetle also feeds on slugs, which are easier to catch, and sometimes on fruits.
A large aquatic beetle found in Europe and Asia, it can grow up to 1.4 inches in length. He lives in fresh water and creates an air flow for himself, collecting bubbles, which he hides under his wings near the respiratory pores. Underwater, it hunts other aquatic insects, tadpoles and small fish and grabs them with its powerful jaws. Males even have suckers on their feet that allow them to hold onto prey just like females.
Tiger beetles run towards their prey, stop, orient themselves, and then run after it, keeping their antennas straight ahead to avoid obstacles. Tiger beetles fly well and can also grab prey on their wings.
What animals eat beetles?
Beetles eat almost everything, and many living things eat beetles, including humans. One of Thailand’s greatest delicacies is the hercules beetle larva wrapped in banana leaves, fried and eaten with a special sauce. Indeed, the larvae of many beetles are edible, including the larvae of weevils, barbel beetles, and Japanese beetles. Other animals that eat beetles include:
- Mammals, including raccoons, skunks, shrews, hedgehogs, moles, rodents, prosimians, foxes, and kinkajou.
- Spiders
- Other insects, including killer beetles
- Lizards
- Birds
- Frogs
- Toad
- Snakes
Next: Red Bird Species