Hissing Beetle - Central CA - Polyphylla decemlineata

i live in bremerton wa. its 1

i live in bremerton wa. its 11oclock at night, i leave the back door open for my dogs when im home. about 20 mins ago i get up to lock the house down i and i reach over to turn the stove light of and i freak out... cause theres this strange bug on my stove. its weird and stripped. i put an papper towel over it, scoop it up and it starts hissing!!!!!!! weird. ive lived here since 1999 and i have never seen a freakn bug like that! i just wana know if it bites?!!!!

… 1Scarlett2, 26 June, 2009 - 1:23am

Not, it doesn't bite,

but that's what you're supposed to think apparently. It's a harmless defense mechanism.

… Jim McClarin, 26 June, 2009 - 1:47am

Hissing beetle

I'm in Lakeside CA, east of San Diego. I never saw one of these guys before and today here was this pretty striped bug on sidewalk at my apartment building and I touched it ever so gently and it turned and hissed LOUDLY at me, and kept on hissing. What a hoot. It's probably procreating in my vegetables, but hey what the heck he's fun !

… diandra, 19 June, 2009 - 2:54pm

hissing beetle

I live outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My 4 year old came to me today to show me a bug outside our door....I looked and saw this bug |I had never seen before.....I tried to move it off the door with a paper and it started hissing and kind of stood up! It was freaky......my dad came down and it did the same thing to him, but he managed to move it.....I hadnt seen a big like this befre, so I googled hissing beetle and here I am, and this pic is the exact bug I saw.....do they normally live in Canada?

… Colleen L, 16 June, 2009 - 11:05pm

Yes, they live in your area.

If you click on the Data tab above you will see a map showing their distribution from bugguide submissions.

… Jim McClarin, 17 June, 2009 - 6:18am

Ensenada , Baja California , MEXICO

Hello! I saw my first one last year outside my door downtown Ensenada. All my friends and I were amazed by it , we had never seen anything like that! We guessed how weird it was , I trapped it but suddenly died. This year I just trapped one once again just outside my door , my house is very fresh , humid and a lot of cacti and flora surrounding. I decided to trap it again but really get into investigating about it to let it live the most time possible. I would really want to know what do they eat so we can be friends for a least a month , I put him on a special cage with a beautiful environment but he is so loud at nights that I wanted to let him free (but he didn't wanted to go!) So at least I would like to know what do they eat and if I find some more form a Polyphylla decimlineata family in Ensenada! Nobody I know has ever seen one in my city before so everybody visiting me gets very attracted. Please tell me more about their diet and environment. Thanks a lot - Bianca from Mexico.

… Bianca Rabago, 8 May, 2009 - 8:11pm

Hi Bianca,

Your beetle will not live very long. Its sole purpose in adult life is to breed once and lay eggs. The male's reason to live is finished when he has impregnated a female and the female's life is over soon after she has laid her eggs. Although it seems a strange existence to us, most beetles live much longer (many over 100 times longer) as larvae than as adults.

Although many scarab species eat fruit or leaves as adults I'm not sure that these beetles will. Adults of some species eat nothing at all. Try offering some juicy sweet melon to your beetle and maybe a piece of lettuce. This should reveal whether your beetle is designed to eat as an adult.

OK, I just found a source that says the adults eat confir tree needles so you might offer it some tender growing tips of pine, fir, juniper, pinon, or any other confir you might be able to locate.

… Jim McClarin, 9 May, 2009 - 10:39am

Thanks Jim!

I'll try doing that! She is still all alive and loud. She/He was hissing for 64 times (Yes , I geekly started to countat night) before I fell asleep , totally loud non-stop but I had to sleep, it was around 5 am. Maybe *She* is calling for a mate. She shows no hungry behavior but I will try with fruits today. Thanks a lot!

… Bianca Rabago, 9 May, 2009 - 2:31pm

You can sex them by their antennae.

Take a look at some of the bugguide images of this species. The males, like the one above, have exceptionally long antennal "fronds" whereas a female has more normal-looking scarab antennal fronds.

I have always assumed the hissing was to startle predators. Although a few beetles seem to communicate by sound, I've gotten the impression it is extremely rare en el orden Coleoptera, los escarabajos.

… Jim McClarin, 9 May, 2009 - 5:32pm

Hissing Beetle

I found one of these guys in Pioneer, CA on Sunday September 1st. Hissing away when I scooped him off the screen door and into a tree.

… Rudyalso, 3 September, 2008 - 4:28pm

Hissing Beetle - Australia

I'm in Brisbane, Australia, and came across a large black beetle last night. It was approx 1.5" long. With my hair standing on end (BEFORE it had hissed at me), I tried to shift it to a safer area (safer for me that is). I knew it couldn't hurt me but the noise is a little offputting. I then had to get my mother who is 83 to remove it. I was surprised to see that so many other people had similar experiences. He's a noisy little critter.

… LynetteMary, 1 January, 2009 - 5:07pm

The "Breathing Bug"

Years ago, 1989 to be exact, I was living in Idaho Falls Idaho and I had gone to a bon fire party in the sand dunes by the Snake River. When I went to take off my shirt to get ready for bed, I heard this really loud "breathing" (hissing) sound. I carefully picked up the shirt I had been wearing and saw this 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" black and white striped "monster" firmly attached to my shirt. I shook it, gently pried it to no avail. This thing was not moving, but did let me know how angry it was at being disturbed. I knew I had to get it out lest it be seen by my mother and cause her to have a heart attack or something. Having never seen one, they are quite jarring the first time. I finally got it free by grabbing with a paper towel and took it over to the canal bank behind the house to set it free, with it hissing in anger the whole time.
Three years later, I was living in Bremerton, WA. I had told the story of the "breathing bug" many times and no one ever believed me. One night in Bremerton, we were sitting in the living room playing cards with about five guests. It got silent for a moment and I heard the telltale "breathing" again. There on the lace curtains (the landlord refused to put in screens) there he was, my enormous black & white friend. Finally vindicated after years of beiong mocked about my "breathing bug" story, I was all too happy to see him. A friend grabbed him, after prying him from the curtains, and we all checked him out with awe and slight horror that comes with seeing seomething like him for the first time, then put him outside to go and scare someone else.

… sweetnex, 16 August, 2008 - 8:55am

Hissing beetle

I live in Spokane WA, and I am 72. I have lived all over the States and been to the Orient, and I have never seen a beetle that would stand up and hiss at me. It was very pretty and wanted me to know who was BOSS.I got on this site and learned something new again. Thank you. Maggie

… Maggieliz, 28 July, 2008 - 2:19am

freaked out

im 34 yrs old and never seen anything like this in canada,and i came across one today in a pile of scrap steel. i live in prince george bc .,.is this too far north for these beetles(just curious)

… robbin, 17 July, 2008 - 6:02pm

Correction

Yes, I know I got the colour wrong. I attribute that to poor lighting and fright. I realized my mistake afterwards. As to the length of Mr. Bug, again, I may be mistaken. I didn't think to measure it at the time, however, I have just looked at my ruler and it was definitely more than 1".

… Barb Braun, 16 July, 2008 - 8:37pm

Here's one that's over an inch, 1/16th over :-)

… Jim McClarin, 17 July, 2008 - 5:45am

Hissing June Bug

I live in Victoria, B.C. and I wanted to share with you a strange thing that happened in our house last night. The dogs and I were all nestled into bed when I heard a strange noise coming from outside the bedroom. (I keep the bedroom door closed at night because I put the air conditioner on). It was a rather odd sound and I thought perhaps a bird, or (perish the thought!) a bat had come in earlier in the evening when I had the back door open. Whatever it was kept bashing itself against the bedroom door.

Please understand that I did not want to investigate, but the dogs were growling and I was kind of worried that it might be a bird. I reluntantly got out of bed and slowly creaked open the bedroom door. Whoosh! In flew whatever it was and flapped around the window blinds for a few seconds before alighting on my bedside table by the lamp. It was a really large beetle! I mean really, really large - probably at least three inches. It had stripes down its back and was a dull bluish green in colour. Worst than its size, though, was the fact that it was hissing at me. I kid you not...it hissed repeatedly. Crap. Rick is away and so there is no one else to deal with this "thing" on my night table. What to do? I couldn't smack it, as it was far too large. I ran to the kitchen and got a heavy drinking glass and some cardboard out of the recycling box, which I thankfully managed to get over this beetle. It was just hissing and making a huge racket. With my two dogs watching avidly, I gingerly walked to the back porch and flung it away into the wisteria tree, slamming the door after me.

Curious, this morning I searched and searched on the Internet to see if I could find this beetle. It took a long time, but I finally did and it is on the site address listed above. Take a look. I will no longer be leaving my back door open in the evenings - regardless of how hot the house is!

… Barb Braun, 15 July, 2008 - 9:25pm

I presume you mean *this* site, this image.

These are never dull bluish green or 3" long. Brown with white stripes and 1" long I could buy.

… Jim McClarin, 16 July, 2008 - 12:23am

THE WHITE STRIPED HISSING BEATLE

I HAVE LIVED IN SAN DEIGO CA ALL MY LIFE,AND NEVER SAW ANY BEATLE LIKE THIS EVER.ARE THEY NEW TOO THIS AREA ,BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY SUPRISING TOO SEE THIS THING NOW AT 30 YEARS OLD,THAN WHEN I WAS A KID MAN GOING FISHING ALL THE TIME AND ALWAY PLAYING IN A FEILD UP TOO NO GOOD.BUT I NEVER RAN INTO ONE OF THESE GUYS TILL TONIGHT I'M KINDA SHOCKED,HAVE THEY ALWAYS BEEN IN THIS AREA?

… mopar1966300, 26 July, 2008 - 1:07am

I don't know.

Beetle species do often spread into new areas but it's more likely that you would see one if you worked nights at a gas station with bright lights. A close relative of these beetles lives in New Hampshire where I live and I have never seen one except when it has flown to lights at night. They don't live long. They die after breeding and laying eggs.

… Jim McClarin, 26 July, 2008 - 5:25am

In Colorado

Just wanted to mention that I've found 2 just today just east of Colorado Springs, Co. One this afternoon laying dead on our front porch steps as we returned home from running errands. The kids caught it and drew it and we looked it up. Then I saw one swimming in our wading pool. My 6yo son went to save him from the water and upon getting his hand near the bug, it hissed at him several times! He still saved it. Now that we know what it is and that it's safe he wants to catch one live to watch it.

It may be the same type my husband couldn't identify yesterday evening while he was working on the car and it "aggressively" flew into his face and "buzzed".

… Charlie Damore, 10 July, 2008 - 2:51pm

June Beetle or Hissing Beetle

I have in a jar right as we speak, which looks to be a crossbreed between them both. Now, I know that might be impossible but it looks like both. I will call the University tomorrow so they may tell me what it is and I am in Chilliwack, BC, Canada. This is the second one I found in a one-year span, the first one was in February or March of last year. I have lots of foliage in my front and back yard, but it is not damaged in any way. Can someone try to explain what I have or will the University examine it. Could it not evolve to what I have in the jar right now?

… Cindy from BC, 9 July, 2008 - 11:05pm

hissing beetle

OMG!!! I am so creeped out right now. I was letting my dog out and one of these was stuck to the outside of the screen door. I tried to flick it off but no luck...it was really stuck. Everytime I flicked the screen it hissed at me...and LOUD. I have never heard anything like it. I finally flung it off the screen and was watching it on the patio (from inside of course) and I heard something else fall from the tree and land next to it on the patio...it was another one!!! It was large, black with yellow stripes going down it's back. Please tell me they are nothing to worry about. I have lived here in Denver for 18 years and have never seen such a thing.

… grossedoutbybeetle, 9 July, 2008 - 11:40pm

They are harmless.

All they can do is hiss.

… Jim McClarin, 10 July, 2008 - 12:04am

Does it look anything like

this one?

… Jim McClarin, 9 July, 2008 - 11:25pm

Just met one of these

I live in San Diego County, in Tierrasanta, about 25 miles from Mexico. I just encountered one of these hissing guys outside my front door on a pretty hot day, at 5pm. If I roust him, he rises up, makes himself as big as he can, raises those orange antenna, and hisses three times. He's about an inch long. Very cool looking bug.

… John Atkinson, 26 July, 2007 - 7:16pm

Moved to San Diego too

Hey, I'm the OP and I moved to San Diego last fall and I just saw one a few days ago here as well! From what I read they are quite widespread but I am just surprised that it took 28 years of my life before I saw one! :-)

… Christine, 11 July, 2008 - 4:31pm

hissing beetles

I was out with my father-in-law having a smoke at about midnight and we looked over under the floodlight and saw the same beetle you are describing. We took him into a bottle with bark to see what he would do. He hissed non stop. This prompted us to look him up on the internet. He is creepy! We are in Western Washington. Do we need to blame this on global warming? The beetle is like nothing we have ever seen before, and it is causing quite a stir here...We are about 40 miles south of Seattle.

… ehyppa, 13 July, 2007 - 3:14am

hissing beetles

I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota and I have seen a variant of what you describe. It looks a lot like a junebug, except a bit larger and lighter brown. The ones I saw didn't have stripes. Well, I actually never got quite that close to them. They rear up and hiss at you when confronted. They also fly faster and are more coordinated than junebugs. I saw the first one last summer.

… vsheehan, 20 July, 2007 - 9:59am

Maybe

like this species?

… Jim McClarin, 20 July, 2007 - 12:31pm

Hissing beetle

Ironically, we are about 35 miles south of Seattle and found the same bug attached to our screen door this morning. He has been there all day. Whenever we lightly tap his belly, he also hisses. Crazy that we both found them on the same day. I guess "they have arrived"!

… Heather Wait, 13 July, 2007 - 4:05pm

hissing beetle

I live 20 miles east of Seattle, and found this very same beetle on my back doorstep this evening. Is this beetle harmful in any way to our plants or home?

… denisel, 30 August, 2008 - 2:10am

No danger to your home.

My guess is that, like many related species, the grubs eat the roots of plants and/or shubs and trees but they do not exist in concentrations that would cause much concern to shrubs or trees. A standard grub poison like Grubex would probably kill them along with other more plentiful scarab lawn grub species.

The hissing of the adults is probably a good defensive measure but they are completely harmless other than being able to produce minor scratches if they got inside your shirt. They don't bite or sting.

… Jim McClarin, 30 August, 2008 - 6:31am

Species is widespread.

This map shows where we have photos of them from already.

Despite their ability to hiss menacingly, these beetles cannot bite.

… Jim McClarin, 13 July, 2007 - 5:14am

Many many many of these found in Southern California

I live in Riverside, California, and I know this post is somewhat old, but I, or to be more acurate, my cat found these in our backyard. He brings at least one or two in every night to play with, that my husband has to catch and take back outside. They were so large and loud that I got panicked as to if they were poisonous or something, so, here I am.... Just thought I'd let everyone know that they're here, alive and hissin'.

… Kymbrlye, 27 July, 2006 - 10:41pm

I guess all that hissin' worked on you :-)

These things are harmless unless the get inside your tight clothing next to your skin, in which case they might scratch you a little just trying crawl.

… Jim McClarin, 28 July, 2006 - 6:15am

Male.

Christine, the fan-shapped appendanges are indeed his antennae. Females have "normal" antennae, greatly reduced in comparison to the male. He uses those to smell the perfume the females release to attract mates. Also, the "hissing" is produced when he rubs the top of his abdomen against ridges on the inside of his wing covers (the striped thingies:-)

… Eric R. Eaton, 19 September, 2005 - 11:12am

Thanks!

Thanks Eric! That is really interesting. I wasn't sure if the hissing were some how from their antennae b/c of how the antennae "buzz" while they hiss.

… Christine, 11 July, 2008 - 4:32pm

Hissing

I believe the "hissing" these produce is actually created by their ability to push air through their spiricles? (sp?)

I observed many of these while camping near chico, CA during mid-july. I couldnt help but laugh at the hissing sound, as I also have Cockatiels (birds) and the hissing sound they make when ticked off is identical to these beetles.

Very interesting bugs.

-Jason

… mendnwngs, 23 July, 2006 - 11:23pm

Male ten-lined June beetle, Polyphylla decimlineata

They do make quite a racket! I'm told these beetles have a very narrow window of flight, so the spraying might not have had anything to do with their disappearance.

See guide:

… Jim McClarin, 19 September, 2005 - 5:17am

June Beetle

Hi Jim,
I found a beetle that looks very much like your June Beetle, however it also looks very much like the Hissing Beetle found in California. Do you know if they are "related" in some way other than being beetles??? (Does that make sense??)
I live in Oregon and found this huge beetle outside at night and when I picked it up it started hissing. I've never seen one so big and never heard one hiss before!!!! Very cool bug!!! Thanks much in advance!!!!

… Rabecca Espinoza, 28 June, 2007 - 2:35am

Type of June Beetle

This is a type of June Beetle, so that makes perfect sense that they would look similar! :-)

… Christine, 11 July, 2008 - 4:33pm

Many beetles hiss or sqawk,

but if it looked line the 10-lined June Beetle, it probably was. They're quite widespread.

… Jim McClarin, 28 June, 2007 - 5:57am

Lined June Beetle

This is a lined June Beetle. Nice photos!

Here's one of my lined June Beetles, which will get you into the right neighborhood of the guide:

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen Cresswell, 19 September, 2005 - 4:46am

Nice rostrum shot

The other shot should be frassed, since better images exist in guide.

… Jim McClarin, 19 September, 2005 - 5:11am