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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Fruit and Flower Chafers (Cetoniinae) » Osmodermatini » Osmoderma » Osmoderma eremicola

Species Osmoderma eremicola

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Osmoderma emericola - Osmoderma eremicola - female

Large scarab beetle - Osmoderma eremicola

Osmoderma eremicola? - Osmoderma eremicola

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

Superfamily Scarabaeoidea

Family Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles)

Subfamily Cetoniinae (Fruit and Flower Chafers)

Tribe Osmodermatini

Genus Osmoderma

Species eremicola (Osmoderma eremicola)

Other Common Names

Hermit Flower Beetle, Hermit Beetle, "Odor-of-Leather Beetle" (for strong odor of "Russian Leather")

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Osmoderma eremicola (Knoch)

Orig. Comb: Cetonia eremicola Knoch 1801

Size

25-30 mm

Identification

A distinctive big brown scarab, elytra smooth (unlike in O. scabra)

Howden (1968) separates O. eremicola from O. subplanata as follows, but see REMARKS: Elytra frequently appearing polished and very finely punctate. Scutellum usually with impunctate or smooth areas medially and laterally; mostly east of Mississippi River and east of Manitoba.

Range

Central and southern Ontario to Nova Scotia in Canada and central Minnesota to Maine south to Kentucky and North Carolina in the U.S. (see Howden 1968).

Habitat

rotten logs in woodlands and orchards; adults nocturnal, come to lights

Season

May-August in SC(1)

Food

Adults take fruit juices and sugary liquids in captivity.

Remarks

The morphological differences between O. subplanata and O. eremicola are somewhat arbitrary and more taxonomic research is needed to refine these species concepts. Images were sorted into these two species primarily based on the distribution map in Howden (1968).

Print References

Howden, H.F. 1968. A review of the Trichiinae of North and Central America (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 54: 1–77.

Internet References

notes on rearing

Works Cited

1.	Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina Phillip J. Harpootlian. 2001. Clemson University Public Service.

Contributed by Cotinis on 18 January, 2005 - 11:20am
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, v belov, Andrew Smith, Arturo Santos
Last updated 17 August, 2021 - 3:41pm

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