Subject: Beetle ID
Location: Mt Rainier NP, WA
June 6, 2017 9:08 am
Team Biota, volunteers at Mt Rainier would like you to identify a recent find from Steven’s Canyon in Mt Rainier. The beetle was crawling along the rocks in the canyon (70 degrees, sunny) but, did not appear feeding on any plant life. Have never seen this beetle in the Park before.
Signature: J. Dreimiller
Dear J. Dreimiller,
This looks to us like a Flea Beetle in the genus Disonycha, which is well represented on BugGuide, however, BugGuide data does not list any species as being reported in Washington or indeed, the entire Pacific Northwest. At any rate, the best we can provide at this time is that this is a Leaf Beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. There are no Leaf Beetles reported on the Mount Rainier National Park Check List, so perhaps you should post your images there to see if you can get a more specific identification. Please let us know if you learn anything, and perhaps one of our readers will provide a comment with an identification.
