NATURE OF THE LAKE

Betsy Beetle

NATURE OF THE LAKE

BY KENNETH BOONE

The Betsy Beetle is most often found in or under decaying logs LAKE 55

IIf you live in the South for any length of time, it’s very likely you’ve heard someone described as “crazy as a Betsy Bug.”

And that description could well be followed with, “Well, bless his (or her) heart.”

But do you know what a Betsy Bug is?

If you pick up an old, moist, rotten log and find a big, shiny black beetle that squeaks, you’ve probably met old Betsy. And you may know this bug by a slew of other common names, like Betsy Beetle, Bessbug,

Bessie Bug, Patent Leather Beetle, Peg Beetle, Horned

Beetle, Horned Passalus, Pinch Bug or Jerusalem

Beetle. its scientific name is Odontotaenius disjunctus. Betsy Beetles are large, tough, strong, slow moving and harmless to people – perfect for children to play with, and many outdoorsy kids prone to flipping logs do just that. These bugs are native to many climates with high humidity in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and they are widely distributed in North

America. They are most often found in and under decaying logs. Two of this insect’s common names allude to their identifying characteristics: a body so dark, black and glossy that it looks like patent leather and a single curved horn on the top of the head. Betsy Beetles grow up to 1-1/2 inches long. Their hard forewings, which cover their abdomens, are striped with deep grooves. Although these beetles’ wings are functional, they don’t often fly, choosing instead to walk, bulldozing through rotting wood. They have short orange hairs on their legs, antennae and other parts of their bodies. Males and females look alike and grow to similar sizes. They are very strong for their size, capable of pulling 50 times their own weight. When you pick one up, a Betsy Beetle will twist and move with obvious strength, often making a squeaking sound. Grubs mature in as little as three months, and the average lifespan of a Betsy Beetle is about one year. A Betsy Beetle grub is long and translucent white with a brown head and what look like four small legs near its head. This grub actually has two more tiny legs – too small to be used for moving around – that it uses to rub against its body to make squeaking noises.

The adults make squeaking noises by rubbing their wings against a rasp-like structure on the top of their abdomens.

Squeaks are often said to sound like a kissing sound, which may be the where they get their common name, “Betsy” or “Bessie,” since in many languages the term “bes” or “bus” is the root of the word for kiss. Other people say the squeaking noise sounds like the words “Bessie” or “Betsy.”

In any case, their ability to make noise is important because when Betsy Beetles mate, both parents help raise the grubs.

The adults eat lots of wood – usually elm, oak or hickory that is falling-apart rotten. They chew up the wood with their strong pincer-like mandibles. They poop out the “processed wood,” which is known as frass. Fungi and bacteria grow on the frass; then, the grubs eat the enriched feces, and that’s the only food they can consume because they require their parents’ gut microbes to digest wood. It’s important that adults and grubs can communicate in the dark inside of a rotting log, so they can find and follow each other and keep the clan alive.

While that process doesn’t sound too appetizing to us, it is very important to our environment. Betsy Beetles do a lot of heavy lifting in decomposing fallen trees in forests, breaking down the tough polymers in wood and helping to keep our forests clean.

So what’s “Crazy as a Betsy Bug” mean?

Well, would you believe there are big, strong, shiny, one-horned black bugs eating trees and making kissing noises right in our own backyards?

That’s crazy.

Bless their hearts.

Some information for this article came from the North Carolina State University Extension office, bugoftheweek.com, insectidentification.org and almanac.com.

These bugs have short orange hairs on their backs, legs and antennae and a single horn on the tops of their heads Betsy bugs bulldoze through rotting logs, chewing the wood with their pincer-like mandibles