Little Bear Beetle

Eastern Washington

Little Bear Beetle or Paracotalpa granicollis
with red-brown wing covers and green pronotum

Little bear beetles are named for the wooly fuzz of the adults, which emerge in mid-spring in places where sagebrush grows. These beetles are attracted to sagebrush and related beetles reportedly eat sagebrush roots, but the food source for its larvae remains as yet unconfirmed, and some think they might feed on bunchgrass roots. The adults, however, are known to invade orchards as pests and according to Oregon State University, eat apple blossoms and peach leaves.

As with other scarab beetles, little bear larvae are likely hunted underground by parasitoid wasps such as scoliids and/or tiphiids, but little is known about these insects for sure.

Little bear beetle on big sagebrush

Fuzzy Little Bear Beetle

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