A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCARAB BEETLE

Last year, a partly decomposed beetle was found in my backyard garden.  When I identified it as a scarab beetle, I was surprised because I did not think that they lived in Southern California. Although the specimen has lost some of its shiny appearance, it is a boni-fide scarab beetle.

CLASSIFICATION:

Phylum Arthropoda

Class Insecta

Order Coleoptera

Family Scarabaeidae [more than 35,000 species are known in the world today]. 

Genus Cotinis 

Species multabilis

                [Common name: “Figeata beetle”]

COMMENTS ABOUT Cotinis multabilis:

It occurs sporadically in the Los Angeles area. It is usually found in fruit orchards, where it prefers to feed on the pollen, nectar, and flowers of over-ripe fruit plants (e.g., primrose and cactus flowers, etc).  

This species is native to Arizona and New Mexico. It gradually spread to southern California, where it loves to feed on fruit plants in late summer to early fall (Wikipedia, 2025).

CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT SCARAB BEETLES:

1.5 to 160 mm (0.6 to 6.3 inches) in length; it is considered to be large in size.

Stout-bodied

Many have bright metallic colors (velvetly, olive green). Its wing covers are brownish orange (these colors are not well preserved in the specimen illustrated in this blog). 

Distinctive club-head antennae (they apparently fell off of the specimen shown below)

Head region with prominent “horns” for fighting, digging, feeding, etc.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SCARAB BEETLES:

Many species are scavengers.

They are harmless (i.e., non-toxic).

They comprise 10 percent of all known beetles.

They are found on all continents, except Antarctica.

They were venerated by the ancient Egyptians and considered to be sacred.

Scarab beetles have a complicated geologic history associated with the development of angiosperm land plants. The earliest known scarab beetles probably originated during the late early Cretaceous (about 108 million years ago) Ahrens et al. (2014). But, it is possible that scarabs   appeared even earlier, during the Jurassic Period  (Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences). The end result is that they evolved into one of the largest beetle superfamilies with over 35,000 living species

Shown below are three views  (dorsum, left side, and ventral: in that order of appearance, below), of the specimen found in my backyard. The specimen was partly decomposed when found, thus it is not in perfect condition. Its colors are also somewhat faded. This is the only scarab beetle I have even seen in southern California, but they are reportedly common in this area, where fruit trees are growing.

Length 1.5 inche (including wing pads)

Width 0.5 inches

Thickness 0.75 inches (including legs)

As mentioned above, this species likes to feed on the pollen, petals, and nectar of the primrose plant. Shown below is the actual plant (yellow flower 1.5 inches diameter) that the above-photographed beetle specimen was attracted to in my garden.

REFERENCES

Ahrens, D. and two others. 2014. The evolution of scarab beetles tracks the sequential rise of angiosperms and mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences. Vol. 281, Issue 1790. (pdf readily available and free).

Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences. http://www.dmns.org

Hogue, C.L. (revised by J.N. Hogue). 2015. Insects of the Los Angeles Basin. 3rd ed. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 474 pp.

Wikipedia.com