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Leatherwing Beetles

Leatherwing

Mating Leatherwings

Chauliognathus pensylvanicus

It’s not even hump day and I’m showing the insect love! Sometimes romance comes early, I suppose. These stellar looking beetles are also known as Goldenrod Soldier Beetles or Pensylvania Leatherwings. 

These were found at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC. 

When I was trying to identify these I came across two main similarities in almost every photo I found of this species. 1) They love the color yellow. Whether it was goldenrod, daisies, sunflowers or other bright yellow plants – it seems they were quite the fans. 2) They are prolific in their mating and seem to do so perched brazenly atop said yellow plants. It was really quite spectacular and nothing to blush at. Just bugs, doing what bugs do. Unabashedly nature at its finest!

Due to it’s bright color, fondness for bright yellow perches and it’s numbers across the eastern and central US, these are the easiest cantharid, or solider beetles, to spot. They eat pollen and such the adults can be considered pollinators. They look a lot like lightening bugs, but they appear in the late summer and early fall – a bit later than the lightening bug peak around here. 

The leatherwing beetles have 4 wings, with the outer two hardening to create a protective shell. However, in these beetles the wings are not totally hardened which is why they are called leatherwings.