Blister Beetle

Subject:  Texas beetle
Geographic location of the bug:  Big Bend N.P.
Date: 04/14/2021
Time: 05:36 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Can you identify these beetles found feeding on Lupine?
How you want your letter signed:  H2oggre

Blister Beetle: Lytta cribrata

Dear H2oggre,
Thanks for sending multiple camera angles of your Blister Beetle in the family Meloidae.  We believe based on this BugGuide image that it is Lytta cribrata, but we would not rule out a different species in the genus.  It is described on BugGuide as: “Pronotoum black at center, broadly orange at sides; head with a diamond-shaped orange frontal spot” and its range is listed as:  “sw. TX (Chinati Mts and Eagle Pass), Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango).”  Does that match your location in Texas?

Blister Beetle: Lytta cribrata

Blister Beetle: Lytta cribrata

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