Subject: vivid blue body with yellow spots
Location: Catalonia, Spain
August 21, 2013 4:53 am
Hi there, I found this beautiful bug in our garden when visiting Catalonia Spain. It was about 2cm long, straight bodied, approx 5mm wide. The legs were very small and the nose was square. Not shaped like a wasp at all.
Signature: Calbea
Dear Calbea,
We knew your beetle was a Jewel Beetle or Metallic Borer Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and we quickly identified it as Buprestis octoguttata thanks to Flicker. We verified the identification on NaturePhoto. Many Jewel Beetles have brilliant, metallic coloration and indigenous people in Central and South America used them for jewelry and other ornamentation. Larvae of Jewel Beetles are wood boring grubs.