Species Euphoria inda - Bumble Flower Beetle

Brown Fruit Chafer

Euphoria inda (Linnaeus)

Origin of species name inda is unclear. Possibly from Latin indo meaning "of India", or indigo. Perhaps a better fit, meaning-wise, is Latin indu, indut, meaning clothed, as the beetle has a thick coat of hairs (1).

13-16 mm

Yellow/brown elytra marked with black, lots of yellowish hairs on thorax. Probably mimic of bumblebees, it has buzzy flight.

An uncommon dark form was previously considered a separate subspecies, E. inda nigripennis (2).

Eastern and central North America--Quebec south to Florida, west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Arizona.

Fields, meadows

Seems to have two flight seasons. Reported March-May, August-October in North Carolina (3);

February-April, and August in South Carolina (4). Reported in May in Minnesota.

Adults visit flowers for pollen and/or nectar. Sometimes damage flowers. Also takes rotting ruit, corn, sap, other plant juices.

Larvae usually reported to live in decaying wood, vegetation, and especially, dung (5). Eggs deposited in summer near these food sources. Larvae feed and overwinter, or perhaps pupae overwinter. Adults emerge in early summer. Males often seen searching for newly-emerged females.

Larvae are, perhaps, associated with ants? From Insects of Cedar Creek:

Blatchley, p. 998 (6) (direct link), gives this account:

Throughout the State (Indiana); frequent. March 20-August 17. On the first warm, sunny days of spring this "bumble flower-beetle" comes forth in numbers and flies close to the ground with a loud buzzing noise like that of a bumble-bee, for which it is often mistaken. When captured it defends itself by emitting a strong, pungent chlorine-like odor. A second brood is said to appear in September. The larva live in rotten wood, beneath chips and other woody debris. The adults are often found sucking the juices of roasting ears, peaches, grapes and apples, and sometimes do much damage.