Beetles of this family contain a chemical called cantharidin, which causes blisters on the human
skin.  They have soft, elongated bodies measuring 3/8 to 1 1/8 inches long.  Their broad head is
usually wider than the prothorax and is connected by a narrow " neck."  This beetle variety is a
plant eater, with adults commonly found on flowers and leaves.

        Striped Blister Beetle

The striped blister beetle varies in length from 1/2 to 5/8 inch in length and is a dull yellow color
The thorax and each elytron has two black stripes that run the length of the wing area.  A bulb-
ous head is loosely linked to a nearly cylindrical thorax with the body containing six long legs
which are a dark brown to black.

This beetle can be found in fields, pastures, and croplands from Nova Scotia to North Carolina,
west to Louisiana and north to Saskatchewan.  Adults eat crops and weeds with the larva feeding
on grasshopper eggs that have been deposited in the soil.

Egg clusters of 100 are laid in holes made in soil and hatch in 10-21 days.  The larva immediately
begin to burrow for grasshopper eggs, pupate in 2 weeks and overwinter in the soil.  Adults emerge
in great numbers in early summer with a generation a year being the norm.

            Arizona Blister Beetle

This beetle variety is 5/8 to 1 1/8 inch in length, is blue-black with dull orange head and pronotum
and legs that are brownish red.

The Arizona Blister Beetle lives in a desert environment and eats plant tissues of various desert
shrubs with the larva attacking grasshopper eggs in the soil.  The life cyle is unknown but captured
beetles have lived 2-3 years under controlled conditions.