The Blister Beetle’s Toxic Touch
October 19th, 2009 Posted in Beetles & Ladybugs
The blister beetle not only has a bad name, but at times has a bad attitude. Given its name, the beetle’s exoskeleton contains a toxin called cantharadin, which literally cause blisters to form on any human skin it comes in contact with.
Animals are just as sensitive to this powerful toxin. It has been known to badly poison and sometimes kill animals that eat enough of these beetles. So, what’s the deal with these beetles and their toxic lifestyle?
This article will talk about:
Description
Blister beetles vary by species in color, shape, and size. Most of these beetles come in any color from solid gray to black. They have pale wings that usually have metallic yellow striped or spotted marks on them. Most of their bodies are long, cylindrical, and narrow. They have defined necks when viewed from above, making them fairly easy to identify.
The beetle’s head is larger than the abdomen section of their body. Their wings are soft and fragile, like most bug wings. Their wings tend to be the length of their whole body, so most blister beetles range in size from 3/8 to 1 inch long. They are commonly found in abundant numbers in dry regions all over the world. In the United States, their found in Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, and other states with drier conditions.
Lifestyle
Females tend to lay their eggs in the dry soil from late summer till early fall. This is the larval stage of the beetle. Once hatched, the larvae move through the soil feeding on grasshopper and other bug eggs. Their bodies begin to grow to regular size, while their skin tightens to protect them from harsh weather conditions.
The pupal stage begins in the spring. This stage lasts 2 weeks and adults begin to appear near the beginning of summer. They begin to hatch as adults in June, July, and August. Once adults, they eat, mate, and lay eggs starting the cycle over again. Their entire life cycle takes about 3 years to finish.
Food Sources
They feed on varying flowers and plants including ornamental plants, potatoes, soybeans, garden vegetables, and any other plants they can get their hands on. They also love to eat pollen from flowers, which tends to be what initially draws them into most of the foods they eat.
As said before, the larvae feed on grasshopper eggs while living in underground soil deposits. They always flock to alfalfa, which has caused huge problems for farmers all over the country.
Alfalfa Infestation
One of the main reasons why the blister beetle is considered a pest is because of their love for alfalfa. Infestations in alfalfa are most common in arid western states with a high population of grasshoppers. However, many eastern states have experienced beetles problems, directly related to a grasshopper outbreak going on at the same time.
The pollen initially attracts them in large numbers, covering entire fields of alfalfa. The main problems associated with them eating alfalfa are their toxicity to farmers harvesting the alfalfa and the possibility of poisoning livestock.
Toxicity
Cantharadin is the poison that causes the blisters from touching a blister beetle. It has similar properties to cyanide and strychnine, in regards to its toxicity. Horses, as compared to other animals, appear to be the highly susceptible to the poison.
Alfalfa is essentially hay. Hay is fed to most farm animals, specifically to horses. When these beetles feed on alfalfa in large quantities, many are still present in the hay even after it is harvested.
Dead or alive their poison remains at toxic levels, especially when ingested. Horses often eat the beetles in their hay feed and don’t realize. Horses can get fairly sick, even die from eating too many beetles in their feed.
Once eaten, the beetles can cause severe skin inflammation and blisters. When it becomes absorbed by your intestines, cantharadin can even cause high temperature, depression, increased heart rate and respiration, dehydration, sweating, and severe diarrhea. If ingested by a horse, there calcium level drops as well as heart muscle tissue disintegration.
Death is very possible when a horse eats these beetles, but not that common. It takes about 1 milligram of cantharadin per kilogram of a horse’s weight to cause death. For instance, it would take 25 of the more toxic striped blister beetle to kill a 275 pound horse, while it would take around 250 of the less toxic blister beetles to kill the same size horse.
Prevention & Management
The best method of control of a blister beetle problem is by prevention. By correctly managing fields of hay, you’ll eliminate the beetles completely. The major method is cutting the hay before it produces flowers that attract the beetles with their pollen. By cutting the hay prior to blooming, it reduces the attractiveness of your farm for swarms of beetles.
Another method is avoiding the use of hay conditioners and crimpers. These methods of harvesting kill beetles at the time of cutting, while also preventing live beetles from leaving the alfalfa field. Even when dead, the beetles have high level of toxicity in their body, thus killing them only leaves them in the hay to be eaten later.
While trapping the beetles inside the hay field, the beetle will remain active inside until they are possible collected with a bushel of hay and possibly eaten. It’s recommended that when harvesting alfalfa using a self-propelled harvester will help prevent trapping and killing the beetles in the field.
Lastly, use EcoSMART organic pesticides to help protect and treat your property. Eco-friendly and safe for animals on the farm, these insecticides will help keep the beetles away from your fields, preventing them from becoming a part of your livestock’s diet.
16 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!
By Bryan hargrove on Oct 23, 2009
this is an excellent website that I love. I find alot of information I cant find anywhere else. I would love to be your product tester
By Karan Sipsy on Oct 23, 2009
Thankyou for the very interesting and informative blog. I had no idea such beatles existed.
By NABILA on Oct 23, 2009
Animals are just as sensitive to this powerful toxin. It has been known to badly poison and sometimes kill animals that eat enough of these beetles. So,Even babies are sensitive like animals that’s the reason why it’s better to use an eco smart pesticide, easy to use ans safe for our planet and our people.
By Courtney on Oct 23, 2009
Ouch…hope I never run up on one of these.
By Mrs Pena on Oct 23, 2009
I think. natural products are best !!
By Mike Small on Oct 23, 2009
I have a ton of beetles around my backyard, but I don’t think they are blister beetles, although they are black. I also have a lot ants crawling around my sink, although this is a little off-topic; they started to to attack for absolutely no reason whatsoever a little while ago. I am hoping to get a sample, or testing the product would be even better, so that I can get rid of them. Please, pick me! jklol
By SuperGirl on Oct 24, 2009
Wow, it’s pretty amazing to find out to how many different insects we have strange reactions. Scary really.
Thanks for the great info.
By James Katkus on Oct 24, 2009
Wow! I have never heard of the Blister Beetle and we just moved to a rural area in northeast Michigan where hay is a big crop area. Ecosmart pesticides seems to be a great method of control.
By elizabeth on Oct 24, 2009
this was very interesting reading. i had no knowledge of this beetle before i read this. i would love to be a tester for this product. i also love the fact that they are ecofriendly products as well. thank you.
By Kelley Chapman on Oct 24, 2009
We who have desert willow trees here in the desert Southwest can tell you these beetles are a royal pain, especially when they get in bed with you! My desert willow tree would be filled with these beetles during the spring through the late summer (when the tree would flower) and those nasty little bugs would get into my home, especially at night (the house lights attracted them inside.)I’m not talking one or two–I’m talking about dozens of them nightly, coming through the light fixtures and windows and ceiling crawl space hatch. Sevin Dust (stinky stuff for sure) just chased them away from the tree even worse, to the point I had to buy canned toxic repellent to spray them with each night when they would enter my house. Wish I had known about your chemical free repellent before now so I could have tried it out. However, my tree blew down this summer in a small tornado we had here, so I don’t think I’ll have much of a problem with those critters next spring as I have in the past. If I do, I’ve bookmarked this page so I can order if needed.
By Tracey Lynne on Oct 25, 2009
Finally a product that me and my family can use despite our Asthma and other health related problems Thank you
By Angela Smith on Oct 25, 2009
I’m amazed to hear these, especially since I live in Kentucky! I also found it very interresting (understatement) to read that what makes them so “toxic” is cantharadin…which is similar to “CYANIDE and STRYCHNINE”!!! (talk about potent) I’m passing this site/link to many others…it’s very educational and interresting at the same time.
By Joe Gewickey on Oct 25, 2009
There is a similar problem in my home state of Arizona (as well as all over the country) with Bark Beetles. These tiny little beetles live just beneath the bark of most of the pines we have here in the West, and they inject a fungus into the pulp under the bark to stop the tree from moving sap, as well as boring holes into the bark and laying their eggs, which hatch and eat the cambrium layer. This results in thousands of trees having to be cut before they die, and rusty, dying forests.
The worst part is that the beetles proclivity for survival is compounded by the way forest rangers and park managers have fought to keep natural forest fires away, which would have raised the temperature of the sap in the trees and basically flooded the beetles out a lot more, as well as simply burning the bugs. Now, the only choice seems to be cutting and selling younger trees before their time, or spraying them with harmful, toxic insecticides!
Great post~
By Brenda Grammer on Oct 25, 2009
The venom of some species of blister beetles is used as a pharmaceutical. I won’t go into detail here so folks won’t try this unsupervised. Natural defenses can be used for good! Hopefully that is what we will discover when using your eco products to combat the exorbitant number of bugs, spiders, and crickets that have decided to spend the winter with us…IN our house. Please help. They congregate outside on the steps, etc., just waiting to get in. (Remember the old movie “The Birds”?)
Email me for address and phone information
By Amanda on Oct 26, 2009
I’m sure with these bugs, they’ll soon spread to more states just like about everything else it seems. It just seems that trying to enjoy a full day outside isn’t as nice as it use to be growing up. I love taking my daughters outside, just sometimes the bugs are to pesky.
By Melissa Krueger on Oct 26, 2009
This website is so informative. I added it to my favorites and I think I browse it more than any other I have. Yes I would love to be a test. Florida has some of the most destructive insects I have ever seen…..