The term june bug can refer to any number of beetles, but the cotinus nitida beetle is what comes to mind when I hear someone say june bug. It seems cruel now, but when we were children, my sisters and I used to catch june bugs at my grandmother’s house in Tennessee and tie a piece of thread to one of its legs. When it tried to fly away it became our version of a motorized kite. Not so nice, right? My son also likes to catch june bugs, but he handles them for a few minutes and then releases them.
So why am I writing about june bugs today? The answer is that we almost never see any cool bugs around here. Most of the bugs we find in our yard are dangerous or creepy. We have a wide variety of spiders, scorpions, centipedes, and some other creepy crawlies that I don’t know the names of. Finding a june bug in our yard is a rare surprise. In some areas these bugs are seen as pests. But we live in the desert and there are no crops to protect around here. So a june bug is a fun find. Fun enough to share with you.
Are there any bugs that remind you of your childhood? Feel free to leave a comment. Share and let’s talk about it.
About Janice
We were much worse than you and your sisters. We used to smash snails with hammers when they crawled onto the porch after the rain. And the sound of cicadas always reminds me of my Grandmother’s house in Mesa.
Oh man. All I think of when I hear June bug is the nasty crunching sound they make when squished. Blech. I think ours are a red colour though – I’ve never seen a green one before! And Shauna, Cicada song always = summer for me. 🙂 I <3 it!
ummm….ewwww… I hate bugs! 🙂
Oh my gosh…my heart just skipped a beat!
Whirlwind of Surprises
Your june bug is cool! The ones we call june bugs are just an ugly brown color and not nearly as big.
When I was little, I loved catching lady bugs (the real ones, not these awful Asian beetles) and boxelder bugs. My small town church somehow always got overrun with boxelders in the winter, so I’d spend the service playing with the ones that landed on my notebook. 😉 At least it kept me still and quiet!
I am not a big bug person, so no favorites for me. Great photos, though.
All my kids ever bring me are japanese beetles, which we have in abundance.
I do not like bugs. My kids haves bug vaccum for playing and I won’t let it in the house. I guess that I need to get over my fears.
I’m not a bug fan, but I make exceptions for June bugs, ladybugs, praying mantis and butterflies. I guess I am a bug snob. 😉 Cicadas=summer too. I love hearing them, they remind me of going to swimming lessons at Falcon Field pool.
Oh, what a pretty bug! I haven’t seen a June Bug in years. Fireflies remind me of childhood.