Bug FAQCowboy Beetle
Chondropyga dorsalis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae
The cowboy beetle is 20 to 25 mm long and yellow-brown in colour, and it can make a loud buzzing sound when flying or threatened. Adults feed on nectar from shrubs and trees in woodlands, dry sclerophyll forests and gardens, while the larvae live in rotting wood and the eggs are laid in damp, decaying logs.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle is yellow-brown and produces a loud buzzing noise that mimics a large wasp when it flies or feels threatened.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults emerge in the summer months.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does a cowboy beetle look like?
It is a yellow-brown beetle about 20 to 25 mm long, and it can make a loud buzzing sound when it flies or feels threatened.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Scarabaeidae)
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Phyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or crops
European Rose ChaferCetonia aurata
Mediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondropyga_dorsalis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.