Death Valley June beetle Concern by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The California Department of Fish and Game considers the beetle a "Special Animal" of high conservation need. Death Valley June beetle The Death Valley June beetle ("Polyphylla erratica") is a scarab beetle in the subfamily Melolonthinae. It is only known to occur in the drainage basin of the Amargosa River in the southwestern United States. Saltgrass communities, such as those at Saratoga Springs in Death Valley, provide habitat for the insect at all stages of its life. Predators of the beetle include coyotes, ravens, and shrikes, the last of which are
Death Valley driest stretch on record with only of rain over a 40-month period. On June 30, 2013, during the 2013 extreme heat wave, the mercury reached 129 °F (54 °C) at Furnace Creek station, which is the all-time highest air temperature recorded for June. The mean annual temperature for Death Valley (Furnace Creek Weather Station) is with an average high of in December, in January, and in July. From 1934 to 1961, the weather station at Cow Creek recorded a mean annual temperature of . The longest number of consecutive days where temperatures reached or more was 205 from April to