Beetles

Blister Beetles are famous for their choice of weapons. They protect themselves from predators by causing a caustic chemical called cantharidin to seep from their joints when alarmed (reflex bleeding). There are about 2,500 species of them in the world, and about 410 of them are found in North America. Like many insects that have complete metamorphosis, Blister Beetles occupy different habitats and enjoy different diets as larvae than they will as adults.

The BugLady thinks this is a Reticulated Net-winged Beetle (Calopteron reticulatum). If not, it’s a Banded NwB (C. discrepans). There are still some rather large gaps in our knowledge of its natural history and its diet.

The BugLady has photographed three beetles this summer that she’s never seen before (well, four, if you count that really out-of-focus long-horned beetle).

Waterlily Leaf Beetles can be found in weedy ponds and lakes and very slow streams all over North America. The adults are leggy, up to a half-inch long, often metallic, with antennae about half as long as their body; they are jumpy and can move fast, and they’re a little camera shy.

The Goldenrod Leaf Miner is listed as “common” over most of the U.S. and into southern Canada (the BugLady has apparently been overlooking it all this time). The GLM is a small, rugged-looking beetle with pitted thorax and elytra and flashy red-orange racing stripes. They are found on goldenrods, often nestled in the dense vegetation of the goldenrod bunch galls at the top of the stem.

Prasocuris vitatta habitat needs often involve sunny wetland edges in the eastern half of North America where members of the buttercup family grow, and they’re also found on the introduced Common/meadow/tall buttercup that grows along roadsides and woodland edges.

Imported Willow Leaf Beetles are northern European natives that reached our shores in 1915; they’re common in the eastern half of the U.S. and north into Canada. Adults overwinter in bark crevices or on the ground in leaf litter, and they leap into action when trees begin to leaf out.

The Colorado Potato Beetle (aka the Potato bug) is among the 10 insects that everyone should know. Gardeners from California to Florida to Nova Scotia to British Columbia certainly know it. CPB adults and larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the Potato family, which includes potatoes as well as tomatoes, nightshade, peppers, eggplant and other secondary targets.