orange bug with blacks splotches and giant clampers
September 20, 2009
We walked outside and saw this on the ground. Please advise!
Jennifer
Sao jose dos campos, Brazil

Brazilian Blister Beetle

Hi Jennifer,
We vowed this would be our last posting for the moment since we need to go to the market.  We anticipate that an exact identification may take us some time, so we are just posting your unidentified beetle in the hopes a reader can provide the answer before we return to attempt an identification.  Though it resembles a Stag Beetle, the antennae are wrong.  We also don’t believe this is a Longhorned Borer, since again the antennae seem wrong.  We are hard pressed at the moment to even place this interesting specimen into a family classification.  Our first guess is perhaps some species of Ground Beetle in the family Carabidae.

Eric Eaton provides identification
September 21, 2009
Hi, Daniel:
Yes, it is, believe it or not, a blister beetle, family Meloidae.  More specifically, it is Cissites auriculata.  Lots of images pop up in a Google search for that genus.
Eric

Thanks for the response Eric.  A web search immediately brought up a posting on BugGuide from Texas with an comment that the common name is the Large Eared Blister Beetle.  There is also a page on the Texas Beetle Information website.

Large, Metallic Blue Ant-Like Insect in Germany
September 1, 2009
I found this creature a few months back and haven’t been able to identify it.
I was walking in a hilly wooded area (deciduous) in May, 2009 on the warmer, south side of the hill. It had been a bit rainy and already warm for a few weeks after a very hard frost toward the end of winter. At this time, apple trees and wild garlic were blooming…
The animal in question was ~4-4.5 cm in length and fairly quick-moving.
I watched it for a few minutes until it was clear of the footpath/road, took a few pictures (including the horribly blurry one for scale) and left it be.
I understand that you get quite a few requests for IDs, but if you get a chance, I’d really like to know what this was. Thanks!
Cori
Kreutzwertheim, Germany (Spessart Forest, Northwest Bavaria/Northeast Baden-Württemberg)

Blister Beetle from Germany

Dear Cori,
This is some species of Blister Beetle.  It greatly resembles the North American Oil Beetles in the genus Meloe which can be viewed on BugGuide.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for such a quick response! – I would never have guessed to call it a beetle. I believe I will ask one of the local beekeepers and see if it is one of the varieties that uses bees for reproduction. – Either way, they might know more about the local insect populations. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.
Thank you again,
Cori

Hi again Cori
Should you happen to find out any additional information on this fascinating Blister Beetle, please provide us with an update.

Will do!
I’ve been in the research field (geology) long enough to know that you mean that! Yay for other people doing the legwork … but don’t forget to double-check it! …
Best wishes,
Cori

I know that in Germany there are at least 14 members of the genus Meloe. But this should be Meloe violaceus at least if the colour of the beetle from the picture is blue not black with blue glister/gloss (don’t know which one of these words is proper). Little verified link about the species appearance.
http://www.zin.ru/ANIMALIA/COLEOPTERA/rus/melviomk.htm
Mardikavana

What bug is this
August 20, 2009
i have a bunch of these bugs in my yard and i want to know what they are
michael
Duncan Oklahoma

Dear Michael,
This is a Striped Blister Beetle, Epicauta vittata.  According to BugGuide it:  “Feeds on variety of plants, especially Solanaceae (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes), also soybeans, other crops. Pigweed, Amaranthus species, not a crop plant, is also fed upon extensively.”  It is also called an Old Fashioned Potato Bug.

Who’s eating my marigolds?
July 21, 2009
Hello! These guys arrived 3 days ago. I thought they were lightning bugs at first. The are buried in each marigold bud and sucking the life out of them. Like a plague of locusts, they have destroyed all the blooms, and there were many! We’ve used several different repellent sprays, nothing keeps them away for long. Thank you for caring! It is appreciated. (Been searching the web for hours to no avail.)
Joanie B.
Eastern Shore of Maryland (Willards, MD)

Unidentified Blister Beetle

Hi Joanie,
This is a Blister Beetle in the family Meloidae, but we have not had any luck identifying the species on BugGuide.  Adult Blister Beetles often feed on flowers and foliage, but in the larval form, they often have complex parasitic life cycles with hosts that include bees and grasshoppers.  According to BugGuide:  “Pressing, rubbing, or squashing adult blister beetles may cause them to exude their hemolymph (“blood”), which contains cantharidin. This compound causes blistering of the skin, thus the name blister beetle. Accidental or intentional ingestion of these insects can be fatal. There are documented incidents of horses dying after eating hay in which blister beetles were inadvertently baled with the forage. Watch that curious children do not attempt to put these beetles in their mouths. The external use of cantharidin, commercially known as ‘Spanish fly,’ the supposed aphrodisiac, is likewise discouraged.”  We hope one of our readers will be able to supply a species identification, or at least a genus identification.

Unknown Blister Beetle
July 23, 2009
Hi Daniel:
It does look like a blister beetle and I can’t claim to be an expert, but this looks a lot like a species of Epicauta, particularly E. hirticornis. The problem is that this is an Asian species and I haven’t found any record of it becoming an invasive in North America. There are a few other red headed species in the genus but none appear to be endemic to the USA; in fact I haven’t been able to find any North American blister beetle that looks quite like Joanie’s photo. I may be on the wrong track here, or it may be possible that these guys do not belong. I think I will keep looking, but this looks like a job for a real expert. Regards.
Karl

Update from Karl
Hi Daniel:
Can I retract? Some further searching did yield one indigenous species that looks like Joanie’s blister beetle, Epicauta trichrus, although the overall shape and some of the coloration still don’t look quite right. I couldn’t find much information about this species but it has been recorded from Massachusetts, so why not Maryland. I found it on Bugguide.net (where else) – I don’t know how I missed it first time through. In fact, the Bugguide site has a second species. E. atrata, that also looks similar, although apparently the head is usually black and only sometimes reddish behind the eyes. Although to me Joanie’s photo still looks more similar to some of the Eurasian species it makes sense to take the more conservative approach and assume that it is not an introduced species. Regards.
Karl

Thanks Karl,
We looked at those two species and decided they were not Joanie’s beetle, but we may be wrong.

Metallic blue bug
Wed, May 6, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Hello WTB,i have been seeing this bug around my town and have no clue what it is. It looks like an ant but has a sort of metallic bue finish on it and is often about an inch to an inch and a half in length. They usually apear in the summer mouths only.
squishworthy
central new jersey

Oil Beetle

Dear squishworthy,
While we don’t feel entirely comfortable with your name and its ramifications, we will nonetheless write back to you to tell you that this is a Blister Beetle in the genus Meloe, commonly called an Oil Beetle.

I see now that the name was a poor choice but a assure you that this bug and the many others that I encounter I do not harm and appreciate their respective services to nature as a whole
Thank you and I hope to have the opportunity to submit to your site again
Steven from jersey
Sent from my iPod