Do you know my name?

The stripes do not match the cucumber beetle. Do you know what this critter could be?
Please and Thank you :)

could be a lightning bug. not a hundred percent sure. good luck.
by the way is it eating that leaf?

It does not look like the lightning bugs I grew up with in NC ,or that we had when I lived in TN.. There is not even one little speck of red on this critter. Still I won't totally disregard your opinion. Thank you roose. At least I now have a direction to research.

He's not eating. Just resting.

Flea beetle. Control with Sevin.

Thanks Billyporter :)
Bug is too large and stripes are not the same as flea beetle. No plant damage. Bug is just resting.

Looking closer and rechecking my Ortho book, I agree. Not quite the same. The Ortho beetle has a black stripe down the middle and yellow on the sides.

Definitely not a flea beetle. I've had to battle thousands this summer, so I kinda got a good look at some of them.

It looks like a lightning bug. I think I remember reading that soldier beetles look a bit like lightning bugs. If it lights up, though, it's obviously a lightning bug.

I'm leaning more towards lightning bug too even though I haven't been able to find any web pictures of one with an all yellow upper body and head (no red at all). I did find some really different looking ones at the link below.
In the 37+ years my family has lived in this part of Florida they've never seen a lightning bug. None of our youngest family members have ever seen one in their entire lives. Hope this critter brought his family and they've decided to stay lol!
http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=firefly&search=Search
Thanks guys. You've been a wonderful help :)

Don't think it's a lightning bug. No markings on the thorax.....

I still count this one as unsolved. I have better pictures that I can't access right now. When I'm able I'll post them. He does not have the tummy parts a lightning bug has. He feeds on the nectar of my lantana.

And I'm still looking when I have a chance...

here he is again

He doesn't chew on leaves as far as I can tell

Really loves Lantana

Whoa! Now I AM confused. It's a beetle, right? Fits the description for a beetle. And then I see a long tubular mouth part - for sucking juices from the plant. Beetles have chewing mouthparts. Bugs have the sucking mouth parts, but they have a different wing configuration. I have no idea where to even look now! What is this thing?

LOL! I don't have a clue. This is only the second one I've seen and I never see any plant damage. He just flits from flower to flower.

Could this be your beetle?

http://bugguide.net/node/view/48949/bgimage

http://bugguide.net/node/view/10548/bgimage

from BugGuide.net:
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Tenebrionoidea (Fungus, Bark, Darkling and Blister Beetles)
Family Meloidae (Blister Beetles)
Genus Nemognatha


This message was edited Aug 18, 2006 11:57 AM

The photos seem to match. Vee8ch, if your beetle is a Nemogantha, it is harmless to your flowers and plants, but bad news for the bees.

Blister Beetle - Nemognatha sp.
Coleoptera Family Meloidae
This is a rather atypical blister beetle. In this genus, the mouthparts are formed into a long "tongue" for nectar feeding (that's why it looks as if there are three antennae).
AHA! That was the mouth part that had me all discombobulated. Good to know!

This is what garden_mermaid was referring to: Females lay eggs on flowers, larva attach themsleves to bees when they visit flowers and are then carried to bee nests where they eat bee eggs and stored food.
Give it the old two brick treatment!

Yes it does seem to match. I spent about a half hour looking for info on Blister Beetles this morning. I was shocked to learn that they are so toxic they are responsible for the deaths of horses in this state. This particular kind looks so innocent and so pretty. I wonder if it is as deadly to horses as the others.
Thank you so much Iwhalliday for finding this bug.
Thank you mermaid and Ceejay for double checking.

You're welcome! I get a kick out of looking for "answers" online. :-)

Blister beetles are the bain of horse owners. They will be in the hay that they buy to feed their horses, the horse eats them, and dies. I have seen it happen - several times - in Colorado. I, too, don't know if all of the species are responsible for this.

I'm glad someone identified it. I've never seen one, but I agree with the two brick advice! I didn't know a horse could die eating them either.