Rove beetles are actually beneficial insects, don't swat them: junior student Hu Fang-shuo sets the record straight

A sudden itch on your hand, and you instinctively slap your arm, thinking you've killed a mosquito. Before long your arm starts to feel hot, red and swollen - oh no, what you killed wasn't a mosquito, but the dreaded rove beetle.

Yet you've misjudged the rove beetle: not only does it not attack humans, it is even a beneficial insect. Hu Fang-shuo, a third-year student in the Department of Entomology at National Chung Hsing University, might be called Taiwan, China's rove beetle expert. He began studying rove beetles in high school and has already published 7 papers related to them. He says: "Rove beetles are super cool." Rove beetles suffer from many misunderstandings, and Hu Fang-shuo wants to use research to give them a fair hearing.

Don't swat before you look carefully: if you accidentally kill a rove beetle, rinse with clean water

In biological classification, rove beetles belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Coleoptera, family Staphylinidae. It is currently the family with the largest number of species in the world, with 67,000 species already discovered, and it is presumed that many more species remain undiscovered in tropical regions. Because of this high diversity, they can be found in almost every environment.

As for the rove beetles of Taiwan, China, damp soil, park lawns, paddy fields and stream banks are all environments where they hide. If doors and windows at home are not kept tightly closed, some species will also appear indoors due to their phototaxis.

Yet among the more than 1,200 species of rove beetles common in Taiwan, China, only about 20 actually harm humans, and most people in Taiwan, China are harmed by the red-breasted rove beetle. Rove beetles do not bite humans, but their body fluid contains weakly alkaline pederin. After we swat a rove beetle, its body fluid remains on the skin, and before long blisters, redness, swelling and a burning sensation appear. The wound slowly dries and scabs over, taking about ten days to heal, and it very easily leaves a scar.

Such a loathsome insect really ought to be wiped out entirely! If you think so too, then listen to what Hu Fang-shuo has to say. "Rove beetles not only do not actively attack humans, they are even the natural enemy of many pests." Crop pests such as brown planthoppers, spider mites and thrips are all prey for rove beetles. In other words, they are a farmer's good helpers!

Hu Fang-shuo stresses that the red-breasted rove beetle is characterised by the black-and-red alternating colours of the head, thorax and abdomen segments of its body. It is only about one centimetre long, a little bigger than a mosquito, so it is very easy to give it a casual "smack" on impulse. Therefore, to protect your own safety, "it is best to take one more look before striking; if it isn't a mosquito, just blow it away." He also points out that if you really do accidentally kill a rove beetle, rinse it off quickly with plenty of clean water, and if the skin condition is too severe, seek medical attention as soon as possible.