Dark Flower Scarab

Dark flower scarabs, Euphoria sepulcralis, are background noise in the insect world. They’re out there but generally go unnoticed, going about their business, which is mostly eating pollen and nectar and the occasional flower part. Unnoticed, that is, until they’re attacking your prized roses, your stand of corn or your favorite mango tree.

Which does happen on occasion. But mostly not.

Dark flower scarabs are common beetles found throughout Florida. Their native range includes most of the eastern United States as far north as Indiana and Illinois, south to Texas. They’ve also been found in the Bahamas.

They go about a half-inch long, are dark brown to black with a metallic appearance. The elytra — essentially hardened forewings that protect the wings and body of the dark flower scarab and other beetles — are decorated with elaborate white markings.

Dark flower scarabs do have a sweet tooth, if an insect can be said to have teeth. They have small mandibles and feed on pollen, nectar, sap flows and ripe and decaying fruit.

They have a particular taste for corn and roses, but in South Florida their taste buds (again, if an insect can be said to have taste buds) turn to mangos and avocados. They’ve been known on occasion to invade bee hives.



We found the guy in the photos seemingly buried in the flower of a purple thistle in Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Other wild, native favorites include daisies, sumac, milkweeds and goldenrod.

Dark flower scarabs are one of the most common beetles to be submitted to the University of Florida’s bug experts (aka entymologists) for identification.

These beetles can do considerable damage if they appear in large numbers. The UF extension office recommends collecting and destroying them in a bucket of water as a first defense. It won’t eliminate the buggers, but it will limit the damage they do.

They’re a bit of an enigma biologically speaking. This much is known: females lay their eggs in the ground. The larva stage for dark flower scarabs lasts about two months during which they feed on manure and other decaying matter. The pupa stage lasts 15 days after which they emerge as adults.

In all, the life cycle of a dark flower scarab is about a year.

In northern parts of their range, dark flower scarabs are in flight in August and September and again in spring. In warmer parts of their range, including South Florida, they’re active year round. They’ve been collected in every month except October and December.

Dark flower scarabs are also known as flower beetles and spangled flower beetles. They are members of Scarabaeidae, the scarab beetle family.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park