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Photo#97761
Bentsen blister beetle - Pyrota insulata

Bentsen blister beetle - Pyrota insulata
World Birding Center HQ at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Hidalgo County, Texas, USA
March 8, 2007
I first noticed these critters in late February, dead and dying on the ground under my oft-mentioned light in the park's maintenance yard. I originally dismissed them as P. tenuicostatis but then checked and read that that species does not typically fly until late May, even way down here! So I photographed the next one I saw, and confirmed that it was something else. TPWD entomology guru Mike Quinn came up with the ID. It also appears to be the first record for Hidalgo County, so I returned to the maintenance yard and collected several of the dead and dying critters from below the light, over a week after initially observing them there. Not sure yet where to deposit them, probably one university collection or another.