Subject: Fence Post Beetle
Location: Ola, Idaho
April 29, 2013 10:24 pm
Here is a photo of a beetle I spotted on a fence post. It seemed like these were quite common in the area; most wooden fence posts had one or two of these lounging about. This was taken at an altitude of about 4000 feet in late April near Ola, Idaho. If need be I have about ten more good photos of this type of beetle.
Signature: Buck Rekow
Hi Buck,
Alas, we are zero for two with your requests this morning. We love your photographs. Our initial thought is that this might be a Checkered Beetle in the family Cleridae, but we are not certain. Our initial search did not turn up any matches and we must leave to go to work. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide an ID in our absence.
Correction: Blister Beetle
Thanks to a correction by Tenodera, we have now come to the conclusion that this is a Blister Beetle, Tricrania stansburyi, and this can be verified on BugGuide.
If you enjoy the photos, here are two more of the beetle. One gives a clearer view of the mandibles. If the quality is not great enough, you can discard them.
Thanks so much for the additional photos.
I suspected from the head it was a blister beetle; found it on Bugguide as Tricrania sanguinipennis. 😉
Thank you so much for this correction, but considering the location in Idaho, it is more likely the western member of the genus Tricrania stansburyi (See BugGuide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/166902/bgpage ). Again, many thanks for bringing this to our attention. We needed to leave early yesterday and we posted quickly.
I have recently come across a multitude of these beetles in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. They are tearing up the vines that grow on my property.