Blister beetles (family Meloidae) are so named because they emit a poisonous chemical, cantharidin, that can blister your skin. Don't even think about touching them!
Blister beetles can infest alfalfa hay, and are toxic--even deadly--to livestock. See "Blister Beetles" published by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station.
But did you know that...
Blister beetles are pollinators!
We recently saw a blister beetle eating pollen on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. We've also seen this insect transferring pollen.
But we have yet to hear someone shout out "blister beetle" when a speaker asks the audience for a list of pollinators.
But they are pollinators...Just think of all the alliteration...bees, butterflies, beetles, birds and bats...and the double alliteration, "blister beetles."
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