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Photo#39035
Pleurospasta mirabilis - Pleuropasta mirabilis

Pleurospasta mirabilis - Pleuropasta mirabilis
Ivanpah Valley, Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, California, USA
May 17, 2003
On Phacelia fremontii.

Pleurospasta mirabilis; Meloidae, Meloinae; see my comments below.

Blister Beetle
They eat a lot, as evidenced by the activity at both ends.

 
Pleurospasta mirabilis
I think my shlamassel may be solved. Went to the bookshelf on a hunch, looked at Natural History of the White-Inyo Range, edited by Clarence A. Hall,Jr. (UC Press, 1991). In the section describing Common Insects and other Arthropods, by John Smiley and Derham Giuliani, several Blister Beetles are listed for the desert area of Owens Valley, among them the present species.
See also http://www.nhm.org/research/entomology/coleoptera/meloids/

 
Bingo!
Congratulations on your ID. I thought it wouldn't be too hard because there are so few white Blister Beetles, or indeed white beetles of any kind. But myy mostly-eastern references didn't help. A most unusual beetle as to colors, markings, and the embossing of the elytra. Nice find!

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

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