darkshine Report post Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) There is a June bug (also called may beetle, july beetle/bugs) trying to break into my house!!! It's hitting the catflap over and over and its quite loud and now my cat wants to go out and I'm like aaargh cuz what if the beetle gets in! I know they don't bite, or sting, but they are big and brown and HUGE and they are related to the scarab family species and did I mention that they are really BIG?!?! It is now crawling around the edge of the catflap and buzzing loudly - ok so I'm scared of a bug My other cat used to eat them the crunch was rather gross I really hate June bugs, on a bad year they bombard the house (but fortunately this has happened only twice in 8 years). I'd never heard of them until I lived here! Anyone else encountered these freaky beetles? Edited July 22, 2011 by darkshine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
philipo Report post Posted July 23, 2011 Found one last autumn,or more like it found me.it was bigger than a 2 pence peice and two tone green/purple.I checked it out in a wildlife book which said it was southern Europe,must have flown to Lancashire on the high pressure weather systems.If they really annoy you you can step on em!I get black beetles in my tent so I usually catch em and throw em out.Moths on lampshades are the worst but occasionaly i find some beautifull ones and sometimes camp near purple weeds because I love 'elephant hawk moths'.They are Britains largets moth,purple and beautifull and their caterpillars are massive and designed to look like a grass snake to protect em from predators.Get a beetle/insect book and a magnifying glass Darkshine,insects are amazing and mostly dont bite! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lynden Report post Posted July 23, 2011 No advice but sympathies as I hate bugs. I know it's not rational, but I really dislike the majority of insects - if I lose a spider in a room I can't go in until someone finds it. I know how pathetic that is for a 36 year old grown woman but I can't help it lol. Lynne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted July 23, 2011 No advice but sympathies as I hate bugs. I know it's not rational, but I really dislike the majority of insects - if I lose a spider in a room I can't go in until someone finds it. I know how pathetic that is for a 36 year old grown woman but I can't help it lol. Lynne I'm only laughing cuz I'm scared of spiders too, they drive me nuts, if I see one I have to get someone to get rid of it - in a completely irrational and absurdly panicked type way Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted July 23, 2011 Found one last autumn,or more like it found me.it was bigger than a 2 pence peice and two tone green/purple.I checked it out in a wildlife book which said it was southern Europe,must have flown to Lancashire on the high pressure weather systems.If they really annoy you you can step on em!I get black beetles in my tent so I usually catch em and throw em out.Moths on lampshades are the worst but occasionaly i find some beautifull ones and sometimes camp near purple weeds because I love 'elephant hawk moths'.They are Britains largets moth,purple and beautifull and their caterpillars are massive and designed to look like a grass snake to protect em from predators.Get a beetle/insect book and a magnifying glass Darkshine,insects are amazing and mostly dont bite! I don't have a problem with most bugs, just a few, and june bugs and spiders are really high up the list Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted July 27, 2011 I hate bugs too and I grew up in southern Africa where there were a lot of them! We used to get different types but I think the ones you're referring to we used to call Christmas beetles as that's the time of year we saw them (bearing in mind December was our summer). If you left your windows open and the lights on you would be overrun - they would fly around the room and bash into the wall with great force, thn drop down on the bed. I used to cower in bed with my head under the covers and just a little gap to breath through. We occasionally saw really massive bugs like Rhino beetles - so called because they have a horn like protuberance on their head. The cats used to love catching insects such as moths and grasshoppers but they never went for the beetles - maybe they were frightened too! K x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted July 27, 2011 I hate bugs too and I grew up in southern Africa where there were a lot of them! We used to get different types but I think the ones you're referring to we used to call Christmas beetles as that's the time of year we saw them (bearing in mind December was our summer). If you left your windows open and the lights on you would be overrun - they would fly around the room and bash into the wall with great force, thn drop down on the bed. I used to cower in bed with my head under the covers and just a little gap to breath through. We occasionally saw really massive bugs like Rhino beetles - so called because they have a horn like protuberance on their head. The cats used to love catching insects such as moths and grasshoppers but they never went for the beetles - maybe they were frightened too! K x The imagery of that is quite horrifying at least the weather here is only "optimum" for them every few years - I'm assuming its the heat or something... The really freaky thing is when they crawl up your windows trying to get at the light and you can see they pop out these huge antennae like a big fat moth - until you look closer!!! But I most definitely keep the windows shut tight when they're about Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
