Subject: Small black beetles with jewel colors of blue and violet
Geographic location of the bug:Â Little Belt mountains Montana
Date: 08/20/2018
Time: 11:48 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:Â I have seen these in the months of June and July on blooming mountain lupines in the Little Belt and the Castle Mountains. I would like to know what kind of beetle these are?
How you want your letter signed:Â David C Powers
Dear David,
The image of a solitary beetle on a blossom is definitely a Blister Beetle in the family Meloidae, but we are uncertain of the species. The other image showing an aggregation of Beetles appears to be a different species. Can you clarify any information on these two images, especially the group of beetles. Were they found aggregating as the image depicts? Here is a BugGuide image of Linsleya sphaericollis that resembles the Blister Beetle in your image of a solitary individual, but again, we cannot verify the species.