{"id":6433,"date":"2025-07-05T07:27:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T07:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/?p=6433"},"modified":"2026-07-09T07:30:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:30:42","slug":"2025-07-the-sulphur-beetle-sun-worshipper-in-the-garden-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/posts\/2025-07-the-sulphur-beetle-sun-worshipper-in-the-garden-en\/","title":{"rendered":"A splash of sulphur: Photographing the brightest sun-worshipper in the garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Say hello to the sulphur beetle (<em>Cteniopus sulphureus<\/em>), a brilliant yellow gem belonging to the comb-clawed beetle subfamily (<em>Alleculinae<\/em>, part of the darkling beetle family <em>Tenebrionidae<\/em>). These little guys are easily recognized by their sleek oval bodies, threadlike antennae, and surprisingly long legs. Measuring just 7\u201310 mm, adults sport striking, pale yellow wing cases (elytra) contrasted by a deeper orange-yellow head and thorax, topped off with jet-black eyes. These beetles are fiercely &#8220;thermophilic&#8221;\u2014which is just a fancy way of saying they are total sun-worshippers that crave wide-open, sun-drenched spaces. While the adults spend their days fueling up on pollen and nectar\u2014frequently throwing garden parties on wild carrots, yarrow, and other plants in the carrot and daisy families\u2014their larvae are busy doing dirty work on the ground. By feeding on decaying wood and plant matter, the larvae act as vital, subterranean cleanup crews for their ecosystem. I crossed paths with this cute little beetle on several occasions right in the garden of my family&#8217;s lakeside house in Poland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Say hello to the sulphur beetle (Cteniopus sulphureus), a brilliant yellow gem belonging to the comb-clawed beetle subfamily (Alleculinae, part [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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