Types of Beetles: 16 Common Species
Hard wing covers that meet in a straight line down the back. This guide covers the 16 beetles people find most often.
Quick list
How to narrow it down
Narrow it down with three quick checks. Count the legs: insects have six, spiders and ticks have eight, and centipedes and millipedes have many more. Check for wings, even folded ones. Then compare size against a coin: a US penny is 19 mm across. Our bug identifier tool does this filtering for you.
The 16 bugs
Blister Beetle
Blister BeetleEpicauta spp.A long, soft-bodied beetle with a narrow neck that feeds on flowers and vegetable foliage. Its body contains cantharidin, a chemical that raises blisters on skin.
Tell-tale sign: Long, soft, cylindrical body with flexible wing covers. Risk: Handling or crushing blister beetles can cause painful skin blisters, and hay contaminated with them can poison horses.
Asian Lady Beetle
Asian Lady BeetleHarmonia axyridisAn imported lady beetle that ranges from pale orange to red with anywhere from zero to 19 spots. In fall it gathers in large numbers on sunny walls and slips indoors to spend the winter.
Tell-tale sign: Orange to red dome-shaped body with a variable number of spots. Risk: They can give a mild pinch and release a yellow, smelly fluid that stains, but they carry no disease.
Cigarette Beetle
Cigarette BeetleLasioderma serricorneA tiny, humpbacked, reddish-brown beetle that infests tobacco, spices, dried flowers, cereals and pet food. Adults are strong fliers and are often found near windows.
Tell-tale sign: Rounded, humped body with smooth, ungrooved wing covers. Risk: Cigarette beetles do not bite; they contaminate and damage stored products.
Colorado Potato Beetle
Colorado Potato BeetleLeptinotarsa decemlineataA rounded, yellow-orange beetle with ten black stripes on its wing covers. Adults and humpbacked red larvae strip the leaves of potatoes, eggplants and tomatoes.
Tell-tale sign: Ten black lengthwise stripes on yellowish wing covers. Risk: Colorado potato beetles are harmless to people but can defoliate a potato crop.
Confused Flour Beetle
Confused Flour BeetleTribolium confusumA flat, slender, reddish-brown beetle common in flour, cake mixes, cereals and other milled foods. Heavy infestations leave a grayish tint and a sharp, unpleasant smell.
Tell-tale sign: Flat, elongated reddish-brown body. Risk: They don't bite or sting; infested flour tastes and smells bad.
Drugstore Beetle
Drugstore BeetleStegobium paniceumA small, reddish-brown pantry beetle with rows of fine grooves along its wing covers. It infests dried foods, spices, pet food, and even books and medicines.
Tell-tale sign: Oval, reddish-brown body with lengthwise grooves. Risk: Drugstore beetles don't bite or spread disease, but they ruin stored food.
Emerald Ash Borer
Emerald Ash BorerAgrilus planipennisA slim, bullet-shaped, metallic green beetle whose larvae tunnel beneath ash tree bark. It has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees across North America.
Tell-tale sign: Bright metallic emerald green body. Risk: Emerald ash borers are harmless to people but lethal to untreated ash trees.
Japanese Beetle
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaA metallic green beetle with copper-brown wing covers that skeletonizes the leaves of roses, grapes, linden and hundreds of other plants. Its white grubs feed on grass roots in lawns.
Tell-tale sign: Metallic green head and thorax with coppery wing covers. Risk: Japanese beetles do not bite or sting people; the harm is to plants and turf.
June Bug
June BugPhyllophaga spp.A heavy, reddish-brown beetle that crashes into screens and porch lights on late-spring nights. Its C-shaped white grubs live in soil and chew grass roots.
Tell-tale sign: Chunky, shiny reddish-brown to dark brown body. Risk: June bugs are harmless to people; they do not bite or sting.
Larder Beetle
Larder BeetleDermestes lardariusA dark, oblong beetle with a pale yellowish band across the front half of its back. Its hairy larvae feed on dried meats, pet food, cheese and dead insects.
Tell-tale sign: Dark, oblong body with a light tan band across the wing covers. Risk: Larder beetles don't bite, but larvae can bore into wood and they contaminate food.
Rice Weevil
Rice WeevilSitophilus oryzaeA small, dark weevil with a long snout and four faint reddish spots on its back. Females chew holes in whole grains such as rice, wheat and corn and lay an egg inside each kernel.
Tell-tale sign: Long, narrow snout extending from the head. Risk: Rice weevils cannot bite people and are not harmful if accidentally eaten, but they spoil grain.
Varied Carpet Beetle
Varied Carpet BeetleAnthrenus verbasciA tiny, round beetle mottled with white, brown and yellow scales. The fuzzy, banded larvae chew holes in wool, silk, feathers, leather and stored animal products.
Tell-tale sign: Very small, round beetle with a mottled scale pattern. Risk: Carpet beetles don't bite, but larval hairs can cause itchy skin rashes in some people.
Eyed Click Beetle
Eyed Click BeetleAlaus oculatusA long, gray-and-black beetle with two large, eye-like spots on its thorax. When flipped over, it snaps a hinge on its body and launches itself into the air with an audible click.
Tell-tale sign: Two large black false eyespots ringed in white. Risk: Eyed click beetles are harmless; the eyespots are a bluff to scare predators.
Firefly
FireflyPhotinus pyralisA soft-bodied beetle that flashes a yellow-green light from its abdomen on summer evenings. Each species uses its own flash pattern to find mates.
Tell-tale sign: Pink or red shield on the thorax with a black center spot. Risk: Fireflies do not bite or sting, but they contain chemicals that are toxic to lizards and some pets if eaten.
Ground Beetle
Ground BeetleCarabidae familyA fast-running, shiny black beetle that hunts slugs, caterpillars and other insects at night. Ground beetles often wander into basements and garages from nearby mulch and leaf litter.
Tell-tale sign: Shiny black body, often with a metallic sheen. Risk: Ground beetles rarely bite and are beneficial predators; a few release a harmless, bad-smelling spray.
Seven-Spotted Ladybug
Seven-Spotted LadybugCoccinella septempunctataA rounded, dome-shaped beetle with red wing covers and seven black spots. Both adults and larvae eat aphids, making it one of the most welcome insects in any garden.
Tell-tale sign: Bright red, dome-shaped body. Risk: Seven-spotted ladybugs are harmless to people and pets and do not damage plants.
Which ones should you worry about?
1 of the 16 bugs in this guide can bite or sting. None of them are considered medically significant. The rest are harmless or simply a nuisance.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common one?
Among the bugs in this guide, the blister beetle and Asian lady beetle are the ones people ask about most.
Which of these are dangerous?
None of them are medically significant, though some can bite or sting.
How can I identify a bug I found?
Use the free bug identifier tool: choose the number of legs, wings, main color, size and where you found it, and it will list the closest matches.