Snug as a Bug on a Bug
Patent-Leather Beetles, also known as Bess Beetles, are large (1.5"), shiny black beetles that live in groups inside rotten logs where they create a tunnel system called a gallery. The adults care for and feed their larvae young a mixture of chewed up wood and adult feces. They are beneficial insects that help fallen trees to decompose and enrich the soil. Often the adults are infested with mites that gather at the joints in their bodies and on the upper portions of their legs.
Nature Photography at Ripples of Time
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