Little bear beetles or Paracotalpa granicollis
with red-brown wing covers
Little bear beetles are named for the wooly fuzz of the adults, which emerge in mid-spring in places where sagebrush grow, buzzing around and occasionally landing. These beetles are attracted to sagebrush and related beetles reportedly eat sagebrush roots, though the food source for its larvae remains as yet unconfirmed; some think they might feed on bunchgrass roots. The adults reportedly 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
