Epicauta tenuis

A blister beetle found in North America. Adult beetles feed on plants. The larvae are predators on the eggs of grasshoppers. The beetles can significantly damage plants, and many Epicauta are known as agricultural pests around the world, even known to cause crop failures at times. As do other blister beetles, these produce cantharidin, a toxic terpenoid which can kill animals such as horses if they ingest enough of the beetles.

gray blister beetles (Epicauta sp., probably E. cinerea or E. funebris)

in their adult form, these beetles gather in groups to feed on vegetation (in this case, nightshade and poplar leaves). Their larvae feed on grasshopper eggs, but most other members of the blister beetle family parasitize solitary bees- sometimes with a convoluted life cycle that involves releasing the scent of a female bee to lure males and use them to hitch a ride to a female’s nest.