Our house is infested (atleast 200)with this Black/red/yellow beetle type bug, Please tell us what it is!
May 2, 2010
Our house is infested (atleast 200)with this Black/red/yellow beetle type bug, Please tell us what it is!
• Your letter to the bugman    As of today, we went outside and found about 200 of these bugs in one small area in our yard. The have a beetle type body that is yellow with a black cross on them and a bright red head. They move very fast and dont die easily. I live in Phoenix and we have never seen them before. They are about 1 inch long, but some a little bigger or smaller. We have a baby almost here and I want to make sure they are not poisonous. I appreciate your help!
Thank for your help! Nicole
Phoenix Arizona

Iron Cross Blister Beetle

Hi Nicole,
Your letter is at least the third we have gotten in the past week requesting an identification for an Iron Cross Blister Beetle, though you letter is the only one that has indicated a high population density.

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Flying Insect
April 29, 2010
These bugs are all over Thunderbird park. They fly and their wings are noisy. They are over an inch long. They are bright red and black. There are a lot of them around the yellow wild flowers. I would love to know more about them.
Marianne
Thunderbird Park–Glendale, AZ

Master Blister Beetle

Hi Marianne,
The Master Blister Beetle, Lytta magister, is sure a beautiful beautiful beetle, but don’t touch.  Blister Beetles secrete a compound known as cantharidin that can cause the skin to blister.

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Red Ant-like bug with yellow wings?
April 25, 2010
Hi! My husband and I were out to lunch and when I got out of the car I saw this bug. It was crawling on the pavement around the tire of my car. It was pretty fast and it kept moving around the tire. It looks almost like a large red ant with yellow wings. We live in Arizona, it is April and about 80 degrees. We have never seen anything like it. It is about an inch long and we did not see it fly. I am just dying to find out what it is and anything about it!? Thank you!
Very Curious
Phoenix, Arizona

Iron Cross Blister Beetle

Dear Very Curious,
You encountered an Iron Cross Blister Beetle in the genus Tegrodera.  BugGuide reports them from California and Arizona and indicates that they are found:  “In the lower Sonoran desert, T. algoa feeds on spring blossoms of Nama hispidum and Eriastrum.“More information on the entire family Meloidae, the Blister Beetle family, can be found on the info page on BugGuide which indicates:  “Life cycle is hypermetamorphic. Larvae are parasitoids. Hosts include bees of families Megachilidae and Andrenidae. Epicauta (and other genera) larvae prey on eggs of grasshoppers. Eggs are laid in batches in soil near nests of hosts, sometimes in nest of bee host, or on stems, foliage, or flowers. Larvae undergo hypermetamorphosis–first instar larvae (usually called triungulins) are active, have well-developed legs and antennae. These typically search for hosts. Later instars tend to have reduced legs and be less active, having found hosts. There is a coarctate (pseudopupal) stage, which is usually how the larvae overwinter. Life cycle may be as short as 30 days, or as long as three years. It is typically one year, corresponding to that of host.“  Other remarks include:  “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.“

found a beautiful bug, but can’t find it anywhere.
April 11, 2010
Hey!
My husband and I were out off roading in Southern New Mexico today and came across this little guy running across the road. The bright metallic blue/green caught our eyes… He was a fast little booger, and really didn’t want his picture taken. We think it’s a beetle of some kind, but not sure.
Cecilia
Southern New Mexico

Desert Spider Beetle

Hi Cecilia,
We couldn’t help but to immediately read your letter because of the subject line.  This beauty is a Desert Spider Beetle or Black Bladder-Bodied Meloid, Cysteodemus wislizeni, one of the Blister Beetles.  According to BugGuide, it ranges from Texas to Arizona.

Desert Spider Beetle

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