# What kind of beetle?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 21, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271 "2008-04-21T18:40:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271/1 "2008-04-21T18:40:24Z")

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We have a wood fence in our back yard. Every summer, a portion of it swarms with one sort of beetle. It’s between 1-2cm long, flat, and matte black in color with red stripes in a ‘V’ on its back, as well as along wing edges and under the wings (when it flies you can see a lot more red).

I may try to borrow a camera and get a picture to post later, but does anyone have any ideas? I’m not sure what they’re eating, but like I said, they seem to be living on a wood fence in a sunny spot (and on the ground by the fence). I’m in Vermont, USA.

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**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271/2 "2008-04-21T18:45:37Z")

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[Box Elder Bug?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxelder_bug)

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**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271/3 "2008-04-21T19:06:25Z")

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[QUOTE=Tamarin]  
[Box Elder Bug?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxelder_bug)  
[/QUOTE]

That’s it exactly! Thanks!

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**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271/4 "2008-04-21T20:12:42Z")

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In northern Utah, we always called these “june bugs,” and my friend’s cat Mango always liked to pounce on them and devour them with relish. After moving to Nevada as a kid, I discovered that most people don’t call them that, and that a “june bug” is something entirely different to most people.

And don’t even get me started on the whole “pill bug” vs. “roly poly” discrepancy!

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-beetle/446271/5 "2008-04-21T20:46:17Z")

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[QUOTE=Eonwe]  
We have a wood fence in our back yard. Every summer, a portion of it swarms with one sort of beetle. It’s between 1-2cm long, flat, and matte black in color with red stripes in a ‘V’ on its back, as well as along wing edges and under the wings (when it flies you can see a lot more red).  
[/QUOTE]

Just to be clear ( and tres pedantic 😉 ) a Box Elder Bug isn’t a beetle. It’s a bug. A “true bug”, that is, as that wikipedia article notes. Beetles are in the order coleoptera.