Subject: Tomato eating insects
Geographic location of the bug: Alvord. Texas
Date: 08/03/2018
Time: 10:13 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: This morning i found hindreds of these bugs. When i watered the tomatoes they fled like cockroaches in the light. What are these tomato eating beasts?
How you want your letter signed: Thank you
This is most likely a Striped Blister Beetle, Epicauta vittata, which is pictured on BugGuide, but there are also several very similar looking members of the same genus. According to BugGuide: “Feeds on variety of plants, especially Solanaceae (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes), also soybeans, other crops. Pigweed, Amaranthus species, not a crop plant, is also fed upon extensively.”