In 2004, the Insect House opened in the Zoo’s Discovery Outpost. Here, you can see a variety of beetle species, such as jade-headed buffalo beetles, Atlas beetles, and whirligigs—as well as stick insects, leafcutter ants, roaches, scorpions, and spiders—up close. And be sure to look for diving beetles and dung beetles in the Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey.
The Zoo hand raises its own sunburst diving beetles. The young, commonly called water tigers, are voracious predators with huge eyes and jaws. Keepers remove them from the exhibit and give them their own individual containers—since they might eat each other, they make terrible roommates! During pupation, they are placed in tanks where they can leave the water and scramble onto a sandy “beach” to crawl under a piece of bark, moss or other object as their exoskeleton transforms in the pupa stage of metamorphosis. After 8 to 10 days, an adult beetle emerges from the pupa.
Many beetle species are considered pests. These beetle pests cause millions of dollars in damage to plant products and transmit disease. Woodworm and death watch beetles (Anobiidae family) can eat furniture and wood floors, and carpet beetles (Dermestidae family) eat wool; weevils (Curculionoidae superfamily) attack crops, such as cotton, apples, corn, and more. The Colorado or potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata can destroy a potato crop.
However, not all beetles are harmful. Farmers often release ladybird beetles to eat aphids and other insects that might hurt a crop. Ground beetles feed on those nasty potato beetles!
Many known beetle species are at critical risk. For example, the Frigate Island giant tenebrionid Polposipus herculeanus is native to only the small Frigate Island in the Seychelles island chain in the Indian Ocean. As more humans arrive on the island, the flightless beetle’s habitat is destroyed. Agricultural development in central California’s vernal pools has left the delta green ground beetle Elaphrus viridis at critical risk.