**Beetle Identification Chart — Shape, Colour & Habitat**

> Free beetle identification key covering 28 common North American and European beetles. Filter by shape, colour, size and habitat, with the pests flagged.

Source: https://orvik.app/tools/beetle-identifier/ · updated: 2026-09-04

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Insects & spiders

# What beetle is this?

A quarter of all described animal species are beetles, so no key names them all. What this one does is cover the beetles people actually find — in the house, in the garden, in the flour jar and under a log — and it sorts them the way an entomologist does: by **body outline first, then antennae, then where you found it**.

Entries **28** Filters **5** Updated **2026-09-04** Cost **Free, no account**

Narrow it down

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Search beetles by name

Body shape

Round or dome-shaped Oval Long and parallel-sided Flattened Heavy and chunky With horns or huge jaws

Colour

Black or dark brown Tan or light brown Red or orange Metallic or iridescent Spotted Striped

Length

Under 5 mm 5–10 mm 10–20 mm Over 20 mm

Where you found it

Inside the house In stored food On garden plants On or in wood On the ground or under a log In water At a light at night

Is it a problem?

Harmless Actively useful Damages plants or property Can bite or irritate

Showing all 28 beetles

1. ### Seven-spot and convergent ladybird Coccinella septempunctata, Hippodamia convergens Domed, glossy red with black spots, short clubbed antennae. One larva eats several hundred aphids before pupating, which is the entire reason gardeners want them. Size 5–8 mm Where Across North America and Europe. Confused with Asian lady beetle, which comes in every colour from yellow to red and has a white M or W marking on the shield behind its head. In the record 717,986 georeferenced records · half of them Mar–Jun · most distinctive in March · mostly from the United Kingdom [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4990191)

2. ### Asian lady beetle Handle with care Harmonia axyridis Variable orange to red with 0 to 22 spots, and a white shield behind the head marked with a black M or W. Gathers on south-facing walls in autumn and gets indoors in hundreds. Size 6–8 mm Where Introduced across North America and Europe. Risk Nips skin, stains surfaces with yellow reflex blood when squashed, and causes allergic rhinitis in some people during mass overwintering. Vacuum rather than crush. In the record 1,008,147 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in November · mostly from the Netherlands [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4989904)

3. ### Japanese beetle Handle with care Popillia japonica Metallic green head and thorax with coppery wing cases and five tufts of white hair along each side of the abdomen. Feeds in groups, skeletonising leaves between the veins. Size 10–13 mm Where The eastern and midwestern United States, spreading; established in parts of Europe. Risk Pheromone traps attract more beetles to a garden than they catch. Hand-pick into soapy water in the early morning instead. In the record 166,736 georeferenced records · half of them Jul–Jul · most distinctive in July · mostly from Portugal [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4425774)

4. [More on beetle identification](https://orvik.app/insects/beetle-identifier/)

5. ### June beetle and chafer Phyllophaga and Amphimallon species Heavy, glossy reddish-brown, clumsy in flight and noisy against a window on warm nights in early summer. The larvae are the white C-shaped grubs found in lawn turf. Size 15–25 mm Where Across North America and Europe. In the record 53,159 georeferenced records · half of them Apr–May · most distinctive in May · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1061346)

6. [Grub identification](https://orvik.app/insects/grub-identification/)

7. ### Eastern Hercules beetle Dynastes tityus Enormous, olive-grey with black blotches, and the males carry a pair of curved horns like pincers. One of the largest and most spectacular insects in North America, and completely harmless. Size 40–60 mm Where The eastern and southeastern United States. In the record 8,066 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jul · most distinctive in July · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1074527)

8. ### Stag beetle Lucanus species Glossy dark brown with the male's mandibles enlarged into antlers used for wrestling rival males, not for biting. Larvae spend years in rotting hardwood. Size 25–75 mm Where Deciduous woodland in North America and Europe. Risk Protected in the UK and declining across Europe. Leave dead wood in place — that is the habitat. In the record 300,544 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jun · most distinctive in June · mostly from the United Kingdom [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/3263258)

9. ### Ground beetle Carabidae Fast-running, glossy black or metallic, with long legs, prominent jaws and deeply grooved wing cases. Runs for cover rather than flying when a stone is lifted. Size 10–30 mm Where Everywhere, with thousands of species. In the record 4,720,919 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from Switzerland [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/3792)

10. ### Bombardier beetle Handle with care Brachinus species Rust-orange head and legs with blue-black wing cases, under stones near water. Sprays a boiling quinone jet from its abdomen with an audible pop when handled. Size 5–15 mm Where Damp ground worldwide. Risk The spray is around 100 °C and stains and irritates skin. Impressive rather than dangerous. In the record 35,759 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1035293)

11. ### Rove beetle Staphylinidae Long and narrow with very short wing cases leaving most of the flexible abdomen exposed, often curled up over the back like a scorpion when disturbed. Usually mistaken for an earwig without pincers. Size 2–25 mm Where Worldwide. In the record 2,614,597 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from Sweden [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/7854)

12. ### Firefly and lightning bug Lampyridae Soft-bodied, with a shield extending forward over the head so the eyes are hidden from above, marked red and black, and a pale luminous segment at the tip of the abdomen. Size 10–20 mm Where Eastern North America and much of Eurasia. In the record 224,467 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jul · most distinctive in July · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4737)

13. ### Click beetle Elateridae Long, parallel-sided, tapering at both ends, with backward-pointing corners on the thorax. Turned on its back it snaps a hinge and flips into the air with a loud click. Larvae are wireworms, a root crop pest. Size 10–25 mm Where Worldwide. In the record 945,929 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jun · most distinctive in May · mostly from France [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825)

14. ### Soldier beetle Cantharidae Soft leathery wing cases in orange and black, on flower heads in high summer, especially goldenrod and umbellifers. Eats aphids and pollen; harmless. Size 8–15 mm Where North America and Europe. In the record 797,883 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jun · most distinctive in July · mostly from the United Kingdom [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/7777)

15. ### Blister beetle Can injure you Meloidae Soft, elongated, with a narrow neck and a head wider than the thorax, often in swarms on legumes and potatoes. Size 10–25 mm Where North America and Europe. Risk Contains cantharidin, which raises painful blisters on skin contact. Baled into alfalfa hay it kills horses. Do not handle bare-handed. In the record 191,822 georeferenced records · half of them Mar–Jun · most distinctive in March · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4742)

16. ### Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata Domed and yellow with exactly ten black lengthwise stripes on the wing cases. Larvae are fat orange grubs with two rows of black dots. Size 10 mm Where North America and much of Europe and Asia. In the record 58,120 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jul · most distinctive in July · mostly from Belgium [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1047536)

17. ### Cucumber beetle Acalymma vittatum, Diabrotica undecimpunctata Yellow-green with either three black stripes or twelve black spots, on squash and cucumber flowers. Spreads bacterial wilt, which does more damage than the feeding. Size 5–7 mm Where North America. In the record 9,674 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jul · most distinctive in June · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1047583)

18. ### Weevil Curculionidae The head is drawn out into a long downward-curving snout with elbowed antennae halfway along it. Nothing else has that profile, so the family is unmistakable even when the species is not. Size 2–15 mm Where Worldwide; the largest family of animals on Earth. In the record 2,705,656 georeferenced records · half of them Apr–Jun · most distinctive in January · mostly from France [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/4239)

19. ### Rice and granary weevil Sitophilus oryzae, S. granarius Tiny dark snout beetles walking on rice, pasta or flour, with round exit holes in individual grains where the larva developed inside. Size 2–3 mm Where Stored grain worldwide. In the record 7,408 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jun · most distinctive in June · mostly from Poland [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/9915023)

20. ### Confused and red flour beetle Tribolium confusum, T. castaneum Small flat reddish-brown beetles running fast through flour and cereal, which take on a sharp unpleasant smell as the infestation builds. Size 3–4 mm Where Kitchens and mills worldwide. In the record 1,249 georeferenced records · half of them Jul–Dec · most distinctive in December · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/7987689)

21. ### Sawtoothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis Very flat and narrow with six sawtooth projections along each side of the thorax, thin enough to walk into a sealed packet through the fold in the seam. Size 2.5–3 mm Where Worldwide. In the record 2,733 georeferenced records · half of them Jul–Nov · most distinctive in December · mostly from Switzerland [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1043875)

22. ### Carpet beetle Handle with care Anthrenus and Attagenus species Tiny rounded beetles mottled black, white and brown, found on windowsills in spring. The damage is done by the larvae — bristly golden woolly bears in wardrobes and under furniture. Size 2–4 mm Where Homes worldwide. Risk Eats wool, silk, feathers and dried insects. The larval hairs cause an itchy rash sometimes misdiagnosed as bed bug bites. In the record 61,876 georeferenced records · half of them Mar–May · most distinctive in March · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/8200668)

23. ### Larder and hide beetle Dermestes lardarius Black with a broad pale band across the front half of the wing cases carrying six dark dots. Feeds on dried meat, hides, dead insects and animal carcasses in wall voids. Size 7–9 mm Where Worldwide. In the record 13,173 georeferenced records · half of them Mar–May · most distinctive in April · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1095848)

24. ### Powderpost beetle Lyctus and Anobium species Rarely seen; the evidence is round exit holes 1 to 2 mm across in hardwood, with fine flour-like frass beneath. Furniture beetle, the common woodworm, is the same story in softwood and plywood. Size 2–7 mm Where Worldwide. In the record 3,247 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from Australia [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/1095727)

25. ### Emerald ash borer Handle with care Agrilus planipennis Slender, brilliant metallic green, with a bright coppery-red abdomen under the wing cases. The tree evidence is decisive: D-shaped exit holes about 3 mm across, S-shaped galleries under the bark and blonde flecking from woodpeckers. Size 8–14 mm Where Introduced across North America and spreading in Europe. Risk Has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. Report sightings in new counties, and do not move firewood between regions. In the record 5,146 georeferenced records · half of them Apr–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/5878492)

26. ### Longhorn beetle Cerambycidae Antennae as long as the body or longer, often much longer, on a narrow elongated body. Larvae bore in wood, and adults squeak audibly when picked up. Size 10–60 mm Where Worldwide. Confused with Asian longhorned beetle, glossy black with white spots and banded antennae, is a quarantine pest — report it rather than releasing it. In the record 2,482,527 georeferenced records · half of them Jun–Jul · most distinctive in July · mostly from France [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602)

27. ### Whirligig and diving beetle Gyrinidae, Dytiscidae Whirligigs spin in groups on the surface film; diving beetles are streamlined, glossy, and hang head-down from the surface to renew an air bubble under the wing cases. Size 5–40 mm Where Ponds and slow water worldwide. Risk Large diving beetles bite hard enough to draw blood if handled. In the record 114,530 georeferenced records · half of them May–Aug · most distinctive in January · mostly from the United Kingdom [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/9646)

28. ### Dung beetle Scarabaeinae Rounded, heavily armoured, often with horns and a metallic sheen, digging in or rolling balls of dung. Estimated to save the US cattle industry hundreds of millions a year in nutrient cycling and fly control. Size 5–30 mm Where Pasture worldwide.
29. ### Tiger beetle Cicindelinae Long-legged, bulging-eyed and metallic, running in fast bursts along a sunny path and flying a few metres ahead of you before landing again. Among the fastest running insects known. Size 10–20 mm Where Sandy paths, dunes and shorelines worldwide. Risk Large jaws; can pinch if held, but never approaches people.
30. ### Rhinoceros and eastern Hercules larvae Scarabaeidae larvae Very large white C-shaped grubs with an orange head and a dark rear end, found in compost or rotting wood. These are decomposers, not lawn pests — turf-damaging grubs are much smaller and are in the root zone of living grass. Size Up to 60 mm Where Compost heaps, mulch and rotten logs worldwide. In the record 3,306,274 georeferenced records · half of them May–Jul · most distinctive in January · mostly from the United States [check on GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/5840)

Nothing in this key matches every filter at once. That usually means one observation is
off — a colour read in shade, or a size guessed rather than measured. Clear the filter you
are least sure about and look again.

## Why beetles are easy to place and hard to name

There are around 400,000 described beetle species and estimates of the true total run far higher. About one animal species in four on Earth is a beetle. No key of any size gets you to species reliably, and any tool that claims otherwise is not being honest.

What is achievable, and genuinely useful, is the family. Beetles are defined by one feature — the front pair of wings has hardened into a case, the elytra, meeting in a straight line down the back — and the families are separated by a small number of visible characters:

- **Antennae.** Clubbed, elbowed, feathery, saw-toothed or thread-like. This is the character professionals reach for first.
- **Body outline.** Round, flat, elongated, or chunky and armoured.
- **Elytra length.** Covering the abdomen, or cut short and leaving it exposed — that second case is a rove beetle, and it is a family of tens of thousands of species you can recognise instantly.
- **Where it was.** In flour, in wood, in water, in dung, on a flower. Habitat narrows the list faster than colour ever will.

Four families cover most household and garden questions: weevils by their snout, ladybirds by their dome, ground beetles by their speed and grooved backs, and carpet beetles by their size and their windowsills.

## Beetles in the house, sorted by where they turn up

Location indoors is close to diagnostic, and it determines the fix.

*Household beetles by where they appear, and what the actual problem is.*

| Where | Likely beetle | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| In flour, rice, cereal or pet food | Flour beetle, sawtoothed grain beetle, grain weevil | Bin the infested packet, vacuum the shelf including the corners, and move staples into sealed glass or hard plastic. Cardboard and paper are not barriers |
| On windowsills in spring, tiny and mottled | Carpet beetle | The adults are leaving; the larvae are in wool, under furniture and in vents. Vacuum thoroughly and check stored woollens |
| Round holes in furniture with fine dust | Powderpost or furniture beetle | Identify whether the holes are fresh, and treat or replace the timber. Frass that keeps appearing means an active infestation |
| Mass gathering on a sunny wall in autumn, getting inside | Asian lady beetle | Seal gaps around windows, soffits and siding before October. Vacuum rather than crush — they stain |
| Large, fast, black, running across the floor at night | Ground beetle | Nothing. It came in by accident, eats pests, and should be put back outside |
| In a dead mouse, a bird nest or an old trophy | Larder or hide beetle | Find and remove the carcass; the beetles are a symptom |

The one that surprises people is the last. A recurring beetle problem in a wall void almost always means something died there, and no amount of spraying fixes it until the source is removed.

## Beetles in the garden are mostly on your side

The reflex when a beetle appears on a plant is that it is eating it. Usually it is eating something that was.

**Ladybirds** and their larvae — slate-grey, alligator-shaped, spotted orange — consume hundreds of aphids each. The larvae look alarming and get squashed constantly.

**Ground beetles** are the largest group of nocturnal predators in a garden, taking slugs, cutworms, root maggots and weed seeds. A ground-beetle-friendly garden is one with mulch, log edging and undisturbed margins.

**Rove beetles** hunt in soil and compost, and several species are reared commercially against fungus gnats.

**Soldier beetles** on goldenrod and umbellifers eat aphids and pollinate while doing it.

The genuine plant pests are a much shorter list: Japanese beetle, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetle, flea beetles, and the root-feeding larvae of chafers and click beetles. All of them are recognisable, and all of them respond better to hand-picking, row cover and timing than to a broad-spectrum spray — which kills the ground beetles and ladybirds far more effectively than it kills the pest.

One specific piece of advice worth repeating: **Japanese beetle pheromone traps attract more beetles than they catch.** Trials at multiple universities have found higher damage on plants near traps. If a neighbour has one, that is where your beetles are coming from.

## The beetles worth reporting

A few species are quarantine pests, and a sighting in a new area is genuinely useful to an agricultural agency.

**Emerald ash borer.** Slender metallic green, 8 to 14 mm, with a coppery abdomen. The tree signs are more findable than the beetle: D-shaped exit holes about 3 mm across, S-shaped serpentine galleries under loose bark, and pale patches on the trunk where woodpeckers have stripped bark to reach larvae. It has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America.

**Asian longhorned beetle.** Glossy black with irregular white spots and long antennae banded black and white. Exit holes are round and large, 10 mm or more. Eradication programmes depend almost entirely on public reports.

**Spotted lanternfly** is not a beetle at all — it is a planthopper — but it is the most-reported insect in the eastern United States and is worth naming here for that reason.

The single most effective thing an individual can do about all of them is **not move firewood**. Both borers travel in cut wood, and long-distance spread is overwhelmingly human-assisted. Buy firewood where you burn it.

## Photographing a beetle so it can be identified

Beetle identification depends on characters that are small, and a phone camera will get them if you handle three things.

1. **Shoot straight down on the back**, in focus, with the whole outline in frame. The dorsal view is the standard reference and every guide is illustrated that way.
2. **Get the antennae in the shot.** Clubbed, elbowed, feathery or thread-like is the first thing an entomologist looks at, and it is the thing most often cropped out.
3. **Include a scale.** A coin, a fingernail, a ruler. Size separates several families that look identical in a photograph.

If the beetle is on a plant, photograph the plant too. Host association narrows the candidates enormously — a striped beetle on a squash flower and the same-looking beetle on a potato are different species.

28 entries here cover the families and species that come up. For anything past that, BugGuide and iNaturalist both have coleopterists who identify submissions for free, and both will tell you plainly when a photograph cannot be taken beyond genus — which, for beetles, is often.

## What the observation record shows

Every entry in this key that carries a scientific name is matched against

- [GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/), the
international register of biodiversity records, and against

- [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/).
That puts a hard number behind 26 of the 28beetles here:
**1,998,438 georeferenced records** across the 11 entries that resolve to a single species, spanning 19 families, the oldest of them collected in
1900. The snapshot was taken on 2026-09-04.

That evidence is not spread evenly, and it is worth knowing before you trust a narrow
result. The five best-recorded beetles in this key hold 98%
of all the records between them: Asian lady beetle alone accounts for
1,008,147, while Confused and red flour beetle has
1,249. A common thing is common in the data too, so
when a filter narrows to one frequent entry and one rare one, the frequent one is
usually the answer — and the record count is the quickest way to see which is which.
The same skew applies geographically: 18% of these
records come from the Netherlands, so the key describes what is
reported there far better than it describes anywhere else.

### When these are actually reported

*Half of the 1,875,178 georeferenced records for these 11 beetles fall in May–July alone. The bars are the raw share by month, which mostly measures when people go looking; the line divides each month by the baseline for every species in every Orvik key, so a value above 1.0 means these beetles are reported more than the season alone explains, and it peaks in June. Source: GBIF, snapshot 2026-09-04.*

Half of every record for this group falls in May–July.
A raw month count measures two things at once — when the organism is about, and when
people are outdoors with a camera — and the second effect is large enough to give
almost anything a summer peak. The line on the figure divides each month by the
baseline for every species in every Orvik key, which answers a different question:
relative to when people record anything at all, when are these beetles recorded?
Values above 1.0 are the months that belong to this group rather than to the season.
On that measure 5 of the 11beetles here peak
outside the warm half of the year — Asian lady beetle, Seven-spot and convergent ladybird, Emerald ash borer among them. Those are the ones a seasonal rule of
thumb gets wrong.

### Records behind each entry

Sorted by how much evidence exists, not by how likely you are to meet one. The peak
month is the effort-adjusted figure, and it is left blank wherever the sample is too
thin for the month-to-month wobble to mean anything.

*GBIF and iNaturalist record counts for the 26 named beetles in this key,
 snapshot 2026-09-04. Rows above species rank aggregate everything beneath them and
 are not comparable with the rest. Free to reuse with a link to this page.*

| Entry | Accepted name | Rank | GBIF records | Research-grade | Half fall in | Peak, adjusted | Most reported from |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Asian lady beetle | [Harmonia axyridis](https://www.gbif.org/species/4989904) | species | 1,008,147 | 564,866 | May–Jul | November | the Netherlands |
| Seven-spot and convergent ladybird | [Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758](https://www.gbif.org/species/4990191) | species | 717,986 | 305,978 | Mar–Jun | March | the United Kingdom |
| Japanese beetle | [Popillia japonica Newman, 1838](https://www.gbif.org/species/4425774) | species | 166,736 | 86,794 | Jul–Jul | July | Portugal |
| Colorado potato beetle | [Leptinotarsa decemlineata](https://www.gbif.org/species/1047536) | species | 58,120 | 20,282 | Jun–Jul | July | Belgium |
| Larder and hide beetle | [Dermestes lardarius Linnaeus, 1758](https://www.gbif.org/species/1095848) | species | 13,173 | 9,673 | Mar–May | April | the United States |
| Cucumber beetle | [Acalymma vittatum](https://www.gbif.org/species/1047583) | species | 9,674 | 7,413 | Jun–Jul | June | the United States |
| Eastern Hercules beetle | [Dynastes tityus](https://www.gbif.org/species/1074527) | species | 8,066 | 12,606 | Jun–Jul | July | the United States |
| Rice and granary weevil | [Sitophilus oryzae A.Hustache, 1930](https://www.gbif.org/species/9915023) | species | 7,408 | 1,709 | Jun–Jun | June | Poland |
| Emerald ash borer | [Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, 1888](https://www.gbif.org/species/5878492) | species | 5,146 | 10,105 | Apr–Jul | January | the United States |
| Sawtoothed grain beetle | [Oryzaephilus surinamensis](https://www.gbif.org/species/1043875) | species | 2,733 | 1,695 | Jul–Nov | December | Switzerland |
| Confused and red flour beetle | [Tribolium confusum Jaquelin Du Val, 1868](https://www.gbif.org/species/7987689) | species | 1,249 | 43 | Jul–Dec | December | the United States |
| Ground beetle | [Carabidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/3792) | family | 4,720,919 | 801,130 | May–Jul | January | Switzerland |
| Rhinoceros and eastern Hercules larvae | [Scarabaeidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5840) | family | 3,306,274 | — | May–Jul | January | the United States |
| Weevil | [Curculionidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4239) | family | 2,705,656 | 994,268 | Apr–Jun | January | France |
| Rove beetle | [Staphylinidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7854) | family | 2,614,597 | 448,217 | May–Jul | January | Sweden |
| Longhorn beetle | [Cerambycidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/5602) | family | 2,482,527 | 1,278,723 | Jun–Jul | July | France |
| Click beetle | [Elateridae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7825) | family | 945,929 | 420,915 | May–Jun | May | France |
| Soldier beetle | [Cantharidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/7777) | family | 797,883 | 407,111 | May–Jun | July | the United Kingdom |
| Stag beetle | [Lucanus Scopoli, 1763](https://www.gbif.org/species/3263258) | genus | 300,544 | 97,118 | May–Jun | June | the United Kingdom |
| Firefly and lightning bug | [Lampyridae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4737) | family | 224,467 | 264,360 | Jun–Jul | July | the United States |
| Blister beetle | [Meloidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/4742) | family | 191,822 | 242,215 | Mar–Jun | March | the United States |
| Whirligig and diving beetle | [Gyrinidae](https://www.gbif.org/species/9646) | family | 114,530 | 19,450 | May–Aug | January | the United Kingdom |
| Carpet beetle | [Anthrenus Geoffroy, 1762](https://www.gbif.org/species/8200668) | genus | 61,876 | 68,557 | Mar–May | March | the United States |
| June beetle and chafer | [Phyllophaga Harris, 1826](https://www.gbif.org/species/1061346) | genus | 53,159 | 36,649 | Apr–May | May | the United States |
| Bombardier beetle | [Brachinus Weber, 1801](https://www.gbif.org/species/1035293) | genus | 35,759 | 6,026 | May–Jul | January | the United States |
| Powderpost beetle | [Lyctus Fabricius, 1792](https://www.gbif.org/species/1095727) | genus | 3,247 | 411 | May–Jul | January | Australia |

This table is assembled from open data and is free to reuse with a link back to this
page. The snapshot behind every Orvik key is published as one downloadable file on the

- [open field data](https://orvik.app/data/) page, with each source's licence terms.

## Questions people ask about this

What are the tiny beetles on my windowsill?

Almost certainly carpet beetles — 2 to 4 mm, rounded, mottled black, white and brown. The adults eat pollen and are heading for the window to get out; the damage is being done elsewhere by the larvae, which are bristly golden "woolly bears" living in wool carpet, stored clothing, under furniture and in air vents. Find and vacuum the larval site rather than treating the window.

How do I get rid of beetles in my flour?

Throw out the infested packet, then vacuum the shelf including corners and cracks, and wipe it down. Check every other dry good, including pet food, birdseed and decorative items, because the beetles will have spread. Move staples into sealed glass or hard plastic — these species walk into sealed paper and cardboard packets through the seam. Freezing a new bag of flour for four days kills anything that arrived with it.

Is the beetle in my house dangerous?

Very rarely. Blister beetles raise painful blisters if crushed against skin and should not be handled. Large ground and diving beetles can pinch. Asian lady beetles nip and stain. Carpet beetle larval hairs cause an itchy rash sometimes mistaken for bed bug bites. Nothing else on this list is a health risk — the large fast black beetle running across your floor is a ground beetle, and it eats pests.

What is eating holes in my leaves?

If the leaf is skeletonised between the veins by a group of metallic green and copper beetles, that is Japanese beetle. Ten black stripes on a domed yellow beetle on potatoes is the Colorado potato beetle. Small yellow-green beetles with stripes or spots on squash flowers are cucumber beetles, and the wilt they transmit does more harm than the chewing. Tiny shot-holes with no beetle visible are usually flea beetles.

Do Japanese beetle traps work?

They catch beetles and they make the problem worse. The pheromone lure draws beetles from a wide area, and university trials have consistently found higher feeding damage on plants near a trap than on plants without one. Hand-picking into soapy water in the cool of the early morning, when the beetles are sluggish, is more effective and does not recruit reinforcements.

What is the big white grub in my compost?

If it is large — up to 60 mm — with an orange head and a dark rear, in compost or rotting wood, it is a scarab larva and it is a decomposer rather than a pest. Turf-damaging grubs are much smaller and live in the root zone of living grass, not in a heap. Big compost grubs frequently become spectacular harmless beetles like the eastern Hercules; leave them.

How do I recognise a weevil?

By the snout. Weevils have the head drawn out into a long downward-curving rostrum with elbowed antennae attached partway along it, and nothing else looks like that. It is the largest family of animals on Earth, so the family is easy and the species usually is not — the ones in your rice are grain weevils, and the ones notching the edges of rhododendron leaves at night are vine weevils.

## Still not sure? Point a camera at it

A filter narrows beetles down to a shortlist. Orvik reads the photo itself and names the species, with the look-alikes ranked underneath so you can check the call yourself.

- [Get Orvik free](https://orvik.app/app/)

## Keep reading on Orvik

- [Beetle identifier](https://orvik.app/insects/beetle-identifier/)

- [Grub identification](https://orvik.app/insects/grub-identification/)

- [What type of bug is this?](https://orvik.app/insects/what-type-of-bug-is-this/)

- [Identify a bug by photo](https://orvik.app/insects/identify-bug-by-photo/)

- [How to identify insects](https://orvik.app/insects/how-to-identify-insects/)

- [What do ladybugs eat?](https://orvik.app/insects/what-do-ladybugs-eat/)

- [What do stink bugs eat?](https://orvik.app/insects/what-do-stink-bugs-eat/)

- [Larvae identification chart](https://orvik.app/insects/larvae-identification-chart/)

## Other free Orvik tools

- [What caterpillar is this?](https://orvik.app/tools/caterpillar-identifier/)
- [What spider is this?](https://orvik.app/tools/spider-identifier/)
- [Is that a butterfly or a moth, and which one?](https://orvik.app/tools/butterfly-moth-identifier/)
- [How old is my dog or cat in human years?](https://orvik.app/tools/pet-age-calculator/)
- [Mohs hardness scale, with a scratch test you can actually do](https://orvik.app/tools/mohs-hardness-scale/)
- [What is the silver in this coin worth?](https://orvik.app/tools/coin-melt-value-calculator/)
- [Is this plant poisonous to dogs or cats?](https://orvik.app/tools/plant-toxicity-checker/)
- [Identify a tree by its leaf](https://orvik.app/tools/leaf-identifier/)

## Where the data comes from

- [UF/IFAS Featured Creatures — beetle species accounts](https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/)
- [EmeraldAshBorer.info — USDA and university outreach on ash borer](https://www.emeraldashborer.info/)
- [University of Kentucky Entomology — household and stored product pests](https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/entfacts)
- [Royal Entomological Society — beetle identification resources](https://www.royensoc.co.uk/)
- [GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility](https://www.gbif.org/)
- [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/)

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