Blue june beetles

[777]

I have seen blue june beetles come to the porch at night. I have not pinned any of them yet, so I can't post pictures right now. They have a pale blue abdomen with a shiny dark green thorax and head. The blue surface of the elytra gets ruined easily and rubs off, especially when wet. Do you know about any beetles that look like this? I can't find out anything about them.

[tv]

It would be good to know a rough location, but without a photo I'd have a hard time even guessing. I have caught some june beetles that have kind of an iridescent coating to them, but not sure if that's what you're talking about.

[777]

I found them only in Crockett, TX. I'll pin some and post photos of them later. It will be a little while, I haven't had much spare time lately.

[bandrow]

Greetings,

This is just a guess, but if they are medium-sized, search Phyllophaga micans on BugGuide and see if that is your beast. If they're small - say coffee-bean sized, search Serica sericea and see if that one could be close.

There are other options that are look-alikes, but these will give you a general idea of what they look like...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[58chevy]

777, I'm unaware of any beetle that matches your description. Please post pictures soon, I'm anxious to see them. It's possible that hairs on the beetles' elytra could take on a bluish hue under fluorescent light, even though the elytra are brown. The only candidates I can think of without seeing pictures are Anomala marginata and Euphoria fulgida, blue form. Neither of those are "june bugs". Where are you located?

[evra]

There’s a species in Arizona, Cotinis impia which is very dark blue, almost black. But it’s diurnal and I’ve only seen it in the day time in the monsoon season.

[777]

I'm out of town, i'll be back to Crockett in a couple weeks. I will make sure to catch some of those blue june bugs and send photos by then. I can't find them anywhere else except Crockett.

[777]

Apr 23, 2021 6:54:11 GMT -8 58chevy said:

777, I'm unaware of any beetle that matches your description. Please post pictures soon, I'm anxious to see them. It's possible that hairs on the beetles' elytra could take on a bluish hue under fluorescent light, even though the elytra are brown. The only candidates I can think of without seeing pictures are Anomala marginata and Euphoria fulgida, blue form. Neither of those are "june bugs". Where are you located?

I got one, they are much less common now than a couple weeks ago. The crystals from the freezer formed and melted and ruined the blue, but I can see some blue again if i shine a flashlight to the front of the beetle. The dark green color on the head and thorax does not show up well on camera. The blue looks its best when I find the live untouched beetle on the porch.