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Photo#507626
small brown & black flying beetle/ant looking bug  - Oxacis

small brown & black flying beetle/ant looking bug - Oxacis
Coral Gables , Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA
April 20, 2011
Size: .4" (not incl. antennas)
I've lived in Florida all my life and have never seen this bug before. They (approximately 10) started to appear a little over a week ago & last night we had well over 100 all concentrated in one area. They come in mass after sunset & find our large all glass double doors that lead from our kitchen to our pool patio extremely attractive. Only a few linger during the day. We have numerous all glass doors that lead to the pool/patio area, but they are only attracted to the one that leads out from the kitchen. We opened the blinds last night and were barely able to see out the glass, at that point I covered myself in "off" and headed out another door to do my best to sweep them away. The Off did nothing to keep them away from me. Many landed on me & just crawled around, but they didnt bite me. Over 30 made their way inside the house & they didn't go straight for the lights…they "hung out" in random locations throughout the ceilings and the walls. After sweeping/spraying most of them down and getting them out, there are a few we missed, or maybe its just more that have come our way. We spend a lot of time outside and they came back again tonight, just not as many. They fly aimlessly it seems, always a few landing on me. They are a little less than 1/2 an inch (not including their antennas). They have a 3 segmented body; the body itself, a second part which I would call a neck and the third segment being the head. When looking closely at them, they seem to have two claw looking teeth things where the mouth would be. Today I watched a few for a few minutes & they seem to be constantly grooming/cleaning themselves (their heads and wings and all) with their legs. I say grooming because it reminds me of how a cat grooms themselves with their paws. They keep coming back and the few that have made their way inside have scattered to various rooms throughout the house.. With no "favorite" location or material (ie wood/ drywall ect). They look similar to a beetle but the one they resemble is all black & these are light brownish/ brown with brown & black wings and much smaller than the beetle I had in mind. Also, we do have mangroves and saltwater canal/inlet out back beyond our all cement pool deck/pool area. What are these creatures and why are they so attracted to us?

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

A false blister beetle
Family Oedemeridae. It resembles Oxacis taeniata (LeConte), but could be any of several very similar species. These sometimes occur in huge numbers in South Florida. They are attracted to light and congregate on flowers. Their body fluids contain cantharidin just like in true blister beetles (Meloidae) and contact with them may cause blistering in sensitive persons. The population explosion should be short-lived and they will soon disappear.

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