Insects, Plants, Fungi and Animals

The magnificent rainbow scarab dung beetle, genus Phanaeus (plus not-so-magnificent former insects harming the gardens)

May 3, 2020 /
  • Phanaeus Igneus Floridanus
  • Phanaeus Igneus Floridanus
  • Phanaeus Vindex female
  • Phanaeus Vindex male
The richness, diversity and ecological health of Levy County insect life out in the country is absolutely mind blowing. Yesterday it was a lime green horsefly stalking me in the cactus nursery; today a praying mantis. When I was young I collected beetles, and in Northern Illinois could only dream of capturing the big beautiful scarab beetles such as these and the giant horned rhinoceros beetle on my top five most coveted list. Now that I only photograph insects, at 50 years old I find myself surrounded by an observable abundance of those very species. Today’s feature; the Corvettes of American dung beetles, Phanaeus Igneus Floridanus and Phanaeus Vindex, or rainbow scarabs. These roughly inch-long beetles feature impossibly cool sculptural and linear grace accented with gem-like metallic hues of green, gold and red. Color and horn length is variable within each species, with pronotum (thorax shield) appearing gold, gold-green or red. I love the metallic green wing covers with their tooled leather-looking strakes, and the bright golden pronotums make some look like crazy dune buggies.

Every morning around 9am I water our gardens on the various pastures and usually bear witness to these flying and tumbling jewels playing out a reproductive drama in the sand feet from where I stand. I knew from literature that the rainbow scarabs can be found working cow manure into brood balls but was completely surprised to find Phanaeus Igneus Floridanus routinely rolling ready-round rabbit dung into deep burrows to feed its eventual larvae. I’ve seen Phanaeus Igneus Igneus in S. Georgia and I suspect it occurs here along with Floridanus, given the variety above. The paired beetles in two of the photos could be a hornless male with female or two females fighting it out over who gets the rabbit goods.

We live out in farm country, which means all of our neighbors have large farm animals. This draws in the other species with the huge horn and triangular gold pronotum on the less often seen male, Phanaeus Vindex, which you can see in my photo. And on days when I’ve taken farm work to the max, these beetles will mistake my rank, gnarly shirt for their next meal and circle me a few times before landing. No doubt, getting a pet rabbit for bonus cactus fertilizer will also attract more nifty shiny things for my viewing pleasure.

As the day brought beneficial beetles to my feet, so it awoke me with the sound of Mom yelling “something’s eating up our tomato plants!” I sprang into action after breakfast and identified the pests as tobacco hornworm caterpillars. Chickens and carpenter ants turned them down so they got smooshed along with the red bug nymphs making a move on our potatoes.
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James V. Freeman is an established visual artist (oil painting) with a deep interest in natural history, plants and farming. He has had numerous solo shows, a solo museum show, an upcoming museum show and his work has been featured in many publications to date. He currently has a studio in Williston, Fl at the family farm and homestead, "Cactus Island", and as a farmer, specializes in growing columnar cacti of the Caribbean and Gulf countries as well as the aquatic Madegascar Lace Plant. James and his mom Sharon manage and develop the permaculture homestead.