Anybody recognise this beatle?

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

charlievictorbravo

Drone Bee
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,802
Reaction score
79
Location
Torpoint, Cornwall
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
2 - 14x12
I did an inspection of the monitoring tray and found a couple of these beatles running around. Does anybody know what it is and is it harmful?

It is about 2mm long.

CVB
 
Often see small bugs on the inspection tray and in this case perhaps a pollen mite.
 
On a serious note, it doesnt look like a small hive beatle as it has an elongated body but the clubbed antennae are an indicator of shb, so if the elongation is a trick of the photo then I would look closer.
 
CVB : There are over 4000 species of beetles in UK. Any chance you could put up a photo of the whole beetle (not just the front end) as then I may be able to identify it. This beetle is most likely to be a scavenger feeding off debris on the tray. Could be Typhaea stercorea or one of the other Typhaea species
 
Last edited:
I wondered who'd spot the deliberate spelling error

MBC - I'm pretty sure it's not a Small Hive Beetle - I checked that before posting. Here's another photo showing the whole thing.

CVB
 
A top view would be better so that we can see the elytra (wing cases)
 
Here's a couple more photos. My cheap USB microscope does not give much depth of focus so some part always seems to be out of focus.

The length of the beetle, excluding the antennae, is between 2.5 and 2.9mm.

Don't take too much notice of the entrails at the rear end - I squashed it when I tried to stop it moving for the photographs!

As well as these beetles on the monitoring board I had a wide strip of what looked like digestive biscuit crumbs. During the summer, I associated this with emerging brood. Here we are nearly in December - should there be emerging brood? If it's not that, what is it?

CVB
 
I did an inspection of the monitoring tray and found a couple of these beatles running around. Does anybody know what it is and is it harmful?

It is about 2mm long.

CVB

Only 2 of the original Beatles left alive in the world. Neither are harmful. :)

Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
Here's a couple more photos. My cheap USB microscope does not give much depth of focus so some part always seems to be out of focus.

The length of the beetle, excluding the antennae, is between 2.5 and 2.9mm.

<snip>
CVB

I was going to guess some sort of leaf beetle, from the shape of it, but the word "pollen" in the name and the following photo have made "pollen beetle" my favourite.
Pollen%20Beetle%201.jpg
 
Looks like a woodworm larvee to mee!

Swap to Pollyhives ( made in Torpoint area ) and you willnot have any more problems!

( Nothing like a sence of humour.......and that was......)
 
I still think it is Typhaea
see
http://bugguide.net/node/view/352212

The beetle in Adrian Smiths photo looks like the raspberry beetle Byturus tomentosus

Looking at the various photographs on the internet, I think you may be correct - Typhaea. This beetle is reported to be an indicator of high humidity in grain stores - does this mean my hive has high humidity and is that such a bad thing? Can Typhaea do any damage in a beehive?

CVB
 

Latest posts

Back
Top