Is this a Longhorn beetle (Phymatodes amoenus)?
March 29, 2010
I was hiking in the mountains in Ludlow, very rural area and came upon a small migration of these beetles. Some were tail to tail. They just seemed to pose on rocks and were in an area about 3 feet by 6 feet. What are these?
I don’t have a preference
Ludlow, California.

Master Blister Beetle

Dear without a preference,
This is the third photo we have posted in the past week of a Master Blister Beetle, Lytta magister, and we are considering making it the Bug of the Month for April.  It is found in the spring in deserts of Arizona and California as well as Mexico, Nevada and Utah.

thank you so kindly. I hope you have a beautiful day.
Delia

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Anza Borrego Bug
March 23, 2010
Greetings,
I came across this bug while hiking in the Anza Borrego State Park, near the Salton Sea, in Southern California in the afternoon of March 13th, 2010.It was about 100 yards from a blooming Ocotillo plant. I found it quite beautiful and would like it identified. Your help would be much appreciated.
Ashley Bacon
Anza Borrego State Park, Southern California

Master Blister Beetle

Hi Ashley,
Each spring, we get reports of sightings of Lytta magister, the Master Blister Beetle, from the Mojave and Colorado deserts in California and Arizona.  Though BugGuide reports them from Nevada and Utah as well, we have not received any reports from those states.  Your photo is the first one this year.  Blister Beetles are a diverse family with numerous species living in the desert areas of the Southwest.  Generally the adults are seen each year for a short period of time, usually in the spring when they feed on new plant growth.  The larvae are parasitic on grasshopper eggs or the eggs of solitary bees.

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Bolivian Blister Beetle, Epicauta pardalis?
February 13, 2010
These blister beetles are destroying hot pepper harvests here by cutting off the immature peppers and flowers. The closest thing I can come up with is Epicauta pardalis, the spotted blister beetle but I am not sure without a good guide or key. I would like to identify it so I can help the people I work with repel it. I’m thinking of maybe a Neem spray. Know of any good way to repel blister beetles? We are in late summer/rainy season here.
Jay
San Jose, Bolivia

Blister Beetles from Bolivia

Hi Jay,
We doubt that this is Epicauta pardalis, a species represented on BugGuide by individuals from Arizona, but it does appear to be the genus Epicauta.  We believe it resembles Epicauta maculata more, which you can verify on BugGuide, but we are uncertain if Epicauta maculata is found in South America.  Alas, we do not give extermination advice.  If it is any comfort, Blister Beetles tend to appear in great numbers for a very short period of time, so your problem may alleviate itself naturally in a short time.

Thanks for the help, Epicauta maculata seems more acurate.  I prefer to repel pests or find natural solutions rather than extermination. I’ll probably experiment with a Neem leaf “tea” to repel them, if they haven’t moved on already by now. Thanks for the help!
Jason

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ground beetle?
November 20, 2009
I found these 2 handsome beetles while digging in the garden in NE massachusetts in early november; I think they were a couple of inches down. I thought they were dead, and placed them in a container for later ID, and when I came back to them a few hours later, they were climbing all over to get out. So, I photographed them, and released them back into the garden. Are they a male and female, and what are they?
Linda in Mass.
NE massachusetts

Pair of Oil Beetles

Hi Linda,
These are Oil Beetles in the genus Meloe.  Oil Beetles are Blister Beetles and they should be handled with care as they exude a compound that may blister skin.  They do appear to be a pair, with the female being the larger of the two individuals.  These are really great photos.

Pair of Oil Beetles

It is the first of December, and we hadn’t prepared in advance for a Bug of the Month, so we searched through recent postings and arrived at this lovely pair of Oil Beetles that was submitted last week.  Oil Beetles can be found throughout North America, though our sightings from the east are more common.  It may be getting a bit late in the year in New England, but they will still be active in the southern portions of their range.  According to Bugguide, the antennae of the smaller males are modified as this set of photos indicates.  The Oil Beetles release an oily substance that contains cantharidin which can cause blistering in skin, hence the common name of Oil Beetle.  This trait is shared with many other Blister Beetles in the family Meloidae, including the notorious European Spanish Fly.

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