If you’ve ever spent time at the dunes in Manila and Samoa, you may be familiar with today’s featured creature: the Ten-Lined June Beetle. Known as Tohtonos (beetle) to the Yurok and Polyphylla decemlineata in the scientific community, these large beetles feature ten white stripes on their dark brown thorax. Males are equipped with distinctive fanned antennae, which they unfurl when threatened. These beetles will also make a hissing sound when nervous, which is produced by expelling air from underneath their wings. The photo above shows a magnified view of the tiny bristles on this beetle’s back.
Sources: Bugwood Wiki
PC: Melissa McMasters and Rylee Isitt on Flickr
Image Description: The first slide shows an image of a brown and white striped beetle walking on the dirt. The beetle has orange-brown hairs on its underside, and several folded antennae. On the second slide, there is a close-up image of the microscopic hairs that cover the beetle’s back. Some are whitish and oval-shaped, and others are beige and needle-like.