First time in the batter's box here - have mercy on me.
I noticed this fellow on the side of a dead basswood tree that is being removed outside our office here in Louisville KY. Brightly colored little fellow, and I've never seen one like it.
I have two pictures of him inside a plastic container.
Top view...
And a bottom view...
"Lemme at him!"
This is a metallic wood-boring beetle (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), possibly in the genus Buprestis - see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/saltplains/insects/insectimages/buprestisrufipes.jpg. The larvae (called flat-headed wood borers) of some species, such as the emerald ash borer, can be quite destructive.
Good info, suunto!
I couldn't get that link to display, so thought I'd post one that sure looks like VV's critter...
http://bugguide.net/node/view/7913
It's Buprestis rufipes, I believe (a.k.a. "the red-legged Buprestis"). Food cited as being maple and birch.
edit: corrected my link
This message was edited Jul 1, 2008 12:00 AM
Everything I've looked up affirms this ID as Buprestis rufipes. Could spend days on some of those bug sites, just admiring the colorations and conformations.
Thanks, suunto and nifty.
