What is this insect?

Zephyr

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I found this crawling across a pine needle-laden trail while searching for antlions.

img0769sn9.jpg


 
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That's what I thought: It looks like a rove beetle (Coach horse thing) But is there a possibility it's an ant queen of some sort? Look at the swollen abdomen.

 
Coleoptera Meloidae.... Meloe sp.

This is Meloe proscarabeus

Meloe.jpg


This one is in thanathosis

Meloe%20tanatosi.jpg


Larvae on flower, waiting for a bee

triung01.jpg


triung02.jpg


Sure it's related to spanish fly (Lytta vesicatoria)... they belong from the same family: Meloidae

Lytta vesicatoria

Lytta01.jpg


Lytta02.jpg


 
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That's what I thought: It looks like a rove beetle (Coach horse thing) But is there a possibility it's an ant queen of some sort? Look at the swollen abdomen.
Rove beetle wasn't a bad guess at all. I took this photo of the Devil's Coach-horse Beetle (Staphylinus olens) on Saturday:

/monthly_10_2007/post-4-1191922065_thumb.jpg

Though they're tucked under its elytra, it does have wings that nearly span the length of its abdomen.

Peter

 

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Lytta vesicatoria is fully winged and metallic green... so it can't be...

It's a female of Meloe sp.

 
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My friend and I found 2 more a few days later, then I found a dead one a week ago.

We're in the US, specifically MI.

The local park is proving to be a very good place to bug hunt.

Perhaps there are cockroaches in the bathrooms... :D

EDIT-

Just found something interesting about the park:

Apparently, thousands of years ago it was the edge of lake Eerie, which would explain the sandy soil.

 
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My friend and I found 2 more a few days later, then I found a dead one a week ago.We're in the US, specifically MI.

The local park is proving to be a very good place to bug hunt.

Perhaps there are cockroaches in the bathrooms... :D

EDIT-

Just found something interesting about the park:

Apparently, thousands of years ago it was the edge of lake Eerie, which would explain the sandy soil.
I would bet that if you look around enough, you will find roaches. I think there are around 50 that can be found in North America and only 3 or 4 get any fame. :(

 
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