Steel Blue Cricket Hunter

Subject: New Mexico bug, near the Rio Grande River
Location: Near the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque, NM
June 30, 2012 11:47 pm
Hi,
I observed this bug this afternoon. It can fly (pretty spastically) or walk and live in a hole in the ground into which it seemed hellbent on bringing scraps of wood bark and other stuff. It even picked up a big piece of dried mud to seal the entrance of it burrow. It is probably 2 inches in length.
Signature: AKizme

Steel Blue Cricket Hunter

Dear AKizme,
This sure looks to us like a Purplish Blue Cricket Hunter,
Chlorion cyaneum.  The common name would appear to be a bit misleading, because instead of crickets, BugGuide indicates:  “Nests are provisioned with cockroaches.”

Correction Courtesy of Eric Eaton
Should be Chlorion aerarium, but without knowing what kind of creature it was hunting, I can’t be absolutely certain.  Chlorion aerarium is common and preys on crickets.  Chlorion cyaneum is less common and preys on cockroaches.
Eric

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