Weeding out the potatoes. All the sudden glance over and this friggin bug was crawling on my arm moving up. I did the appropriate jump-and-brush where you jump back and start smacking yourself like an idiot trying to get the damn thing off. It was bigger than the one in the picture. There are a lot of them in there, because I started pulling weeds again and there was more…so I called it quits for today.
Anyone know what it is?
This entry is about
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Day 86
Solanum tuberosum |
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Comments
Fhaith wrote:
I searched some photos to try to ID this fellow. I came up with another photo from someone’s online photo storage. Couldn’t ID it. If I run across it before someone else ID’s I’ll let you know!
Posted on 14 Jul 11 (almost 2 years ago)
Trillium233 wrote:
Thought it might be a species of blister beetle, so I took a quick look at bugguide.net. It looks like the “Ash Grey Blister Beetle” Epicauta fabricii. Here’s a link with some pictures: http://bugguide.net/node/view/245350 :D
Posted on 14 Jul 11 (almost 2 years ago)
kris04 wrote:
Ah you found it! Thanks!
Posted on 14 Jul 11 (almost 2 years ago)
TangoFlowers wrote:
Nasty, nasty bug! Glad u got it off urself, lucky that u didnt accidentally squish one by smacking it tho…
Pressing, rubbing, or squashing adult blister beetles like this 1 can cause them to exude their gut liquid “blood”, which contains a caustic cantharidin compound. This compound causes blistering of the skin, thus the name blister beetle. The blisters can sometimes be as bad as 2nd degree burns.
Accidental or intentional ingestion of these insects can be fatal. There are documented incidents of horses dying after eating hay in which blister beetles were inadvertently baled with the forage. Watch that curious children do not attempt to put these beetles in their mouths (or squish them-they might do it wrong and get blistered).
I got very badly blistered on my hand by one of these by squishing it. Happened when i was only 7, and i still remember the intense pain and 2nd degree blistering, more than 20 yrs later.
Info from personl experience and from http://bugguide.net/node/view/181#body
Posted on 14 Jul 11 (almost 2 years ago)
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