by Connie Oswald Stofko
The goldenrod soldier beetle is a native insect that eats aphids and pollinates plants, which is good for our gardens. Yay!
But if it comes into contact with a certain fungus, the unlucky beetle can die, become a zombie and help spread the fungus to other goldenrod soldier beetles.
That’s sad for the individual beetles, but it’s not something gardeners need to worry about.
Our garden helper
The larvae of the beetle feed on soft-bodied insects such as aphids, according to this article from South Dakota State University Extension.
The adult goldenrod soldier beetles eat nectar and pollen, pollinating plants as they go. The beetle especially likes to visit the flower of goldenrod (Solidago); you probably guessed that from the name. The Latin name of the beetle is Chauliognathus pensylvanicus.
The goldenrod soldier beetles are active in August and September, and I’ve been fortunate to notice them in my yard starting last week. I even saw a pair mating. Though I wasn’t able to get a photo, you can see a short video of a pair mating in the gallery here.
What a way to go
A fungus kills goldenrod soldier beetles in a unique way that helps the fungus to spread, according to this article in Phys.org. The fungus causes the females to attract males.
The fungus Eryniopsis lampyridarum lives on the same flowers that the goldenrod soldier beetles visit. When infected, the beetle’s jaws clamp hard onto the flower, freezing the beetle in place as it dies.
Here’s the really weird part.
Nearly a day later, the wings on the dead beetle open as if preparing to take flight. For infected male beetles, the story ends there.
It’s different if the dead beetle is a female. As it lies there, the dead creature appears to males as ripe for procreation. The males fly over and attempt to mate with the zombie female, and in the process become infected with the fungus.
There may be more going on in your backyard than you know!