June bugs

June bug are very common in Virginia.  They have an opalescent green back and their legs are hard and strong enough to pinch you which they always did when they landed on you.  When I lived on Radnor Road, we had a preacher and his children  that lived across the street and they were the most creative bunch of children I have ever known.  They taught me how to tie thread or a very lightweight string around the hind leg of a beetle.  Once you tied the string securely on the hind leg you let the beetle go.  It would fly around in circles on the end of the string or you could take them for a walk and they would follow you like a pet.  Every now and again the string would pull the leg off and the beetle would fly away.  We never got discouraged however, we just trapped another June bug and began again.