Two-lined Leatherwing - Blog Posts

Two-lined Leatherwing (Atalantycha bilineata), taken April 2, 2025, in Georgia, US

Look at the size difference between them! By far not the largest I've ever seen, but the male is still only about 1/3 of the female's size! A size difference about this large is pretty typical for soldier beetles, though many other kinds of beetles have little to no size difference at all. For all of the individuals of this species I've been seeing around (hundreds), this is the first time I've seen a mating pair!

Two-lined Leatherwing (Atalantycha bilineata), taken March 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

A beetle explosion is currently in progress! Today is the first day of the year I've seen this species, and yet they're out in the hundreds already. They're most dense in the same spot as last year, so they must like something about it! Every one of them would turn to look at me when I got close for pictures—so friendly!