Adult bulla beetle are sometimes confused with the commonlightning microbe — though , this is a mistake that nurseryman and landscapers only make once . While lightning bugs create an amazing summer evening spectacle , the blister mallet may leave behind an raging blistery monitor of its mien : a bite that can leave behind you with a painful wale . With several hundred species of blister beetle found across North America , it ’s important that gardener be aware of them . Aside from their power to irritate the skin , several of these mallet coinage are confirmed garden gadfly that incline to gather in sizable number to defoliate emcee plants .
Definitely Not A Lightning Bug
Part of the confusedness between bleb beetles and lightning hemipteron is the fact that both insects are soft - bodied beetles with leathery elytra ( backstage cover song ) , which are in stark contrast to the operose elytra found on most mallet specie . Adults produce between 1/2 to 1 inch long , with a all-encompassing vertical head connected to its cylindrical body by a narrow-minded “ neck . ” The neck - corresponding visual aspect is an important clue to distinguishing blister beetle from lightning bugs .
With so many individual metal money of blisters mallet in North America , it is challenging to describe their exact colouration , though many specie incline to be dark gray or black , with some exhibiting longitudinal stripes down the eubstance . Larval forms of the beetles are predatory , and the species that consume grasshopper eggs are even considered beneficial , but most specie of blister beetles are confirmed pestis , attacking the nests of somenative beepopulations that serve as significant pollinators .
Blister Beetle Damage
All blisters beetle have the power to exudate cantharidin , an greasy means that irritate the skin and causes declamatory fluid make full blister to form on human pelt . While the concentration of cantharidin varies among coinage , the release of this caustic substance is increased when beetle are crushed or injure next to the tegument . The blister more often than not are n’t considered a serious human threat , though if they get infect , they can cause additional issues . Livestock , such as knight and sheep , on the other hand , may become quite sick or even pall if they accidentally down bleb beetles in the field or if their dried provender is foul with stagnant blister beetles or cantharidin from beetle arbitrarily crushed in the harvesting .
In the garden , several blister beetle species , such as the striped blister beetle or the ash gray blister mallet , can congregate and defoliate several important economic crop : alfalfa , noodle , beetroot , carrot , cabbage , corn , mad apple , melon , pea , pepper , potato , squash and odoriferous tater , all of which are common hosts . If blister beetle are an issue in your garden , the best discourse for small populations is handpicking ( with gloves ) , or for expectant populations , use an constitutive spray containing the ingredientspinosad .
