Beach Bug
Reader Jim Phillips dug through his photo archives and found a whole host of great photos for us. This one’s a little small, but I think it makes a great wallpaper. I am very familiar with this little beetle, but I honestly have no idea what kind of bug it is–or even, really, if it is actually a beetle.
This bug is common in Utah, and Jim got a photo of it in New England. I assume this means it is widespread across North America.
Any takers on what it is?
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
Jesse said,
December 8, 2007 @ 6:55 pm
It’s the same shape as a milkweed beetle, so possibly a relative?
b13 said,
December 8, 2007 @ 11:29 pm
Almost looks like a lightning bug. Does its rear light up yellow?
tceisele said,
December 9, 2007 @ 4:27 am
It’s a variety of Skeletonizing Leaf Beetle. Specifically, it looks exactly like a Goldenrod Leaf Beetle, Trirhabda canadensis. I thought it was a relative of the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus at first, because the wing covers looked kind of leathery rather than shell-like. But, the head didn’t look right and the colors were inverted (it needed to be a black stripe down the middle and pale on the sides, not pale in the middle and dark on the sides).
I love Bug Guide, because when you start with a mistake, but it is the same mistake that a lot of other people make, you’ll often find the right thing because of the comments made to correct them. Like here, where I did a search on “soldier beetle”, and a picture of the right beetle evidently came up because somebody had commented that it was not a soldier beetle.
jim phillips said,
December 9, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
It looked like a lightning bug to me, but it’s rear end wasn’t right. The shot was taken at Barnegat Light in New Jersey, not in New England.