Hairy darkling beetle
Lagria villosa
The hairy darkling beetle is a dark beetle with a purple and green metallic shine and copper and golden wing cases. It comes from Africa, but it has spread to South America. It has tiny helpers: friendly bacteria that protect its eggs.
Lives in
Tropical and southern Africa, and now Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina, on farms and fields
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Farmers do not like it, because it eats their crops.
What does it eat?
Both the grubs and the beetles eat many crops, such as corn, bananas, potatoes, coffee and peaches.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Hairy darkling beetle about 0.5 km/h (0.31 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Bacteria live on its eggs and make a special substance that keeps fungi and germs away.
2
It was first found outside Africa in Brazil in 1976.
3
In 2020 one was found in Finland, inside a box of grapes that came from Brazil.
you asked
Most asked questions about Hairy darkling beetle
?What does the hairy darkling beetle eat?
It eats many crops, such as corn, bananas, potatoes and coffee.
?Where does the hairy darkling beetle come from?
From Africa. It later spread to South America.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lagria villosa
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1783
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Tenebrionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Tenebrionidae
- Lives on
- Africa, South America
Where the facts come from
- Lagria villosa (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 andré. 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Stag beetle
Hercules beetle
Common glow-worm
Goliath beetle
Cockchafer
Mealworm beetle
High brown fritillary
Yellow-spotted stink bug
Lackey moth
Rose myrtle lappet moth
Twice-stabbed stink bug
False milkweed bug