The Superior Sap
aka Beer Bugs
Diet
- Feed on flowers, fruits, sap, fungi, stored products, and decaying and plant tissues
- Cause fermentation of infested plant parts
- Larvae inside of a berry or other fruit will go unnoticed until the berry begins to decompose as a result of the larvae feeding off of the berry
Life Cycle
- Three to four generations of sap beetles may develop in a season
- In the spring they feed on tree sap or decomposing plant tissue
- Then they lay eggs on the decomposing plant tissue
- After the eggs hatch the larvae feeds on the plant tissue
- Larvae are small pinkish or creamy colored
- The larval stage lasts for 30 days and is followed by pupation
- Pupation takes place for about 14 days then the beetle is an adult!
Where are these Beer Bugs found??
- Sap beetles do not really have a specific location that they are found except in most gardens and around picnics and beer:)
- Many gardeners or farmers use some sort of pesticide to keep the sap beetles from laying eggs in fruits and veggies and then decomposing them
Characteristics
- Most adult sap beetles are small, between 1/8 and 1/4 inches long
- Oval in shape
- Stelidota geminata are the smallest
- Carpophilus lugubris have short wing covers and are a dull black in color
- Gilschrochilus quadrisignatus are the largest and have four orange-rust spots on the wing covers
Time appears on the body?
- The sap beetle usually appears on the body during butyric fermentation and dry decay
- It appears much later on in decomposition than many other species
Damage aka additional info
- Sap beetles are secondary pests of corn and usually are attracted to corn ear tips or the stalks that are damaged by corn ear worm
- Larvae may hollow out the kernels of corn of the upper half of the ear
Works Cited
"Iowa State University Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic." Sap Beetles. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/info/insects/sap-beetles>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fedis.ifas.ufl.edu%2Fhs234>.
N.p., n.d. Web. <www.extension.umn.edu%20%E2%80%BA%20Garden%20%E2%80%BA%20Insects>.