Hobbies And Interests
Round and Oval Beetles
North Carolina's round beetles include many ladybird beetles, commonly called ladybugs. Although we usually think of ladybugs as red with black spots, they can be gray, pink, orange and other colors. Ladybugs are beneficial to gardeners, due to their diet of aphids and other plant-destroying pests. However, Asian lady beetles swarm in late fall and become a nuisance.
Many of North Carolina's leaf beetles are also round or oval. These beetles are typically less than 1/2 inch, and sometimes as small as 1 millimeter. Cereal leaf beetles are a significant agricultural pest of Virginia and North Carolina's small grain crops, according to the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension.
Elongate Beetles
Beetles with long, almost rectangular-shaped abdomens are elongate beetles. These include fireflies, commonly seen on summer nights when they flash their green or yellow lights to communicate with other fireflies. Many longhorn beetles, including "borer" beetles are also elongate, and most possess back-curved antennae that are three times longer than their bodies. Borer beetles bore mostly into felled wood, although some species, such as the elder borer, eat the roots or new growth off of trees.
Blister beetles are also elongate and skinny, and possess the chemical cantharidin, which can produce blisters on human skin. According to the Integrated Pest Management Program of North Carolina State University, however, they are not usually considered pests in North Carolina, because their larvae are beneficial, eating eggs of destructive grasshoppers.
Odd-Shaped Beetles
Not all beetles possess a round, oval, rectangular or elongate shape. Some are odd-shaped, such as weevils with elongated heads, which form a tube-shaped beak or snout. Most weevils, including billbugs, are pests, due to their destruction of crops and plants. The black vine weevil is a pest in North Carolina; its larvae feed on houseplant roots, and the adults notch foliage and flowers.