VIDEO: Black fire beetles are showing up around burned trees and debris and Washington officials said they are part of the natural process after a fire. The beetles are drawn to warm fire areas because they have infrared sensors. Washington DNR said they use burned landscapes to reproduce.

“They find these fire affected landscapes. They lay their eggs on the bark, and the eggs hatch and they burrow under the bark and they start feeding. And yeah, they’re they’re part of this recycle process that happens post-fire,” Dana Brennan, the Forest Entomologist said. Because the beetles burrow into trees, they have mandibles [pinchers] and can bite if they get trapped against someone’s skin.

“If one of those beetles happens to land on you and fall down your shirt or something, they might bite. But truly, that’s not their intention. These guys get kind of misinterpreted as as biting insects. They can – they don’t want to. They’re looking for a burn tree to lay their eggs on,” Brennan said. Brennan said the beetles are native and not a threat. If one ends up crawling on someone, she said the best response is to brush it off.

“These are not a public health emergency. These are native. They’re doing a really important thing in our landscape. Just be mindful of where they’re at, where you’re at. If you have one crawling on you just let it go,” Brennan said. These bugs do not survive in flames, instead they are the first to move in during the smoldering phases, and leave around the time other decomposing bugs show up.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

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