This week for Flora and Fauna Friday, we have a big and brilliantly black beetle. This week we’re examining the Horned Passalus Beetle, AKA Patent Leather Beetle or Bess Bug (Odontotaenius disjunctus).
Bess Beetles are large beetles that can reach almost 2 inches in length. They are long and stout but rather flat. They are a common beetle in our hardwood forests. If you maintain a stack of firewood, or were a critter collecting kid like myself, you’ve undoubtedly stumbled upon them beneath an old log. Bess Beetles feed on rotting wood. Any hardwood log that’s in contact with damp dirt is fair game. These beetles chew burrows through the wood, where they will spend their entire life. Here they feed on rotting wood and fungus, mate, lay eggs, raise offspring, and die. The cycle repeats until the log is finally reduced to a pile of mulch and soil. Then the remaining beetles crawl their way to the next log and restart the cycle.
These beetles have a variety of names due to their abundance, size, and presence in collected firewood. (A once necessary chore for every man, woman, and child.) The scientific name “Odontotaenius disjunctus” translates to “disjunct ribbon-like teeth”. The name “Horned Passalus” references the small horn-like protrusion on the head of the beetle, above the mouth. Passulus refers to the family name Passalidae, of which the root means “Peg”. The family got that name because the beetles fit rather snuggly into their excavated log burrows like a, carpentry peg into a wooden board. The name “Patent Leather Beetle” refers to their color. It’s just like the glossy black, polished patent leather used in dress shoes. The last name, “Bess Beetle”, is a little more of an archaic stretch but highlights another interesting trait of the species. Bess references the French and Middle English words for “kiss”. When harassed, Bess Beetles make a noise that sounds vaguely like a smooch. (They sound more like the whining of a baby bird to me.) Bess Beetles make this sound by rubbing their wings against their abdomen. A process called stridulation or making sound by rubbing body parts together, like a cricket or cicada. Unrelated fun-fact, Bess Bugs smell like a clean hog-bristle paint brush, for some reason.
