Tule beetle
Tanystoma maculicolle
The tule beetle is a ground beetle from the west of the United States. In parts of California there are so many of them that people call it extremely common. Sometimes it even wanders into people's homes.
Lives in
Southern Oregon and much of California, often around farms
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. If one comes into the house, a grown-up can gently carry it back outside.
What does it eat?
It is a ground beetle, and most ground beetles hunt small creatures on the ground.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Tule beetle about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It has some funny nicknames. People also call it the overflow bug and the grease bug.
2
It is very well known in the farmland of California's Central Valley.
3
Sometimes lots of them come inside houses, which is how many people first meet them.
you asked
Most asked questions about Tule beetle
?Why are tule beetles in my house?
In parts of California there are so many of them that some wander indoors. It is harmless and can be carried back outside.
?Is the tule beetle dangerous?
No. It is a harmless ground beetle.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tanystoma maculicolle
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Carabidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Carabidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Overflow bug, Grease bug
Where the facts come from
- Tanystoma maculicolle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Jesse Rorabaugh. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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