09/29/2026
Meet the Bumble Flower Beetle!
I’ve had several questions about these fuzzy little “bumble bees” showing up in gardens this week—but this little guy is actually a beetle!
The bumble flower beetle, Euphoria inda, belongs to the Scarabaeidae family, the same large beetle family that includes many of our familiar scarab beetles. Adults are usually about ½–⅔ inch long, with a mottled brown/cinnamon body covered in fine hairs. And that loud buzzing flight is one reason they get mistaken for bumble bees!
So why are they suddenly showing up in the garden?
These beetles are scavengers. Adults are attracted to overripe or damaged fruit, fermenting plant juices, tree sap, flowers and pollen. A garden full of ripe tomatoes, fruit, flowers and other plant material can basically become a buffet for them.
And here’s the part I find especially interesting: the adults we see aren’t the whole story.
Their larvae are cream-colored grubs that develop in soil and organic material rich in decaying vegetation, compost, manure and other decomposing material. Rather than being the typical destructive white grub that eats grass roots, bumble flower beetle larvae are largely associated with breaking down organic matter.
That means your garden’s compost, mulch, old plant material and rich organic soil can provide exactly the habitat they need to complete their life cycle.
They aren’t considered a common or serious garden pest in Iowa. Occasionally adults can damage ripe fruit or feed around wounds in plants, removing damaged or overripe fruit and keeping garden sanitation in check is usually a good approach for controlling this insect in your garden.
So the next time you hear that bzzzzzz and see what looks like a fuzzy bumble bee crawling around your tomatoes—take a closer look! You might actually be looking at a scarab beetle.
Have you noticed more of these in your garden this year?
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/article/2014/09-12/bumbleflower.html
Photo provided by Kathy Rohrig
