Attack of the Metallic Bug

While whacking the hell out of a few rogue knapweed plants with my trusty weed-whacker on the road out from my cabin, a rather large bug zipped directly into my head and got entangled in my hair.

There is a saying: “It is never too early to panic.”

Guided by this sentiment, I danced a bit madly along the roadway while trying to free the insect from my hair.  Once I located the bug, I flicked the thing to the ground.

The bug was decidedly pretty, if not outright metallic in appearance.  I scooped the bug into my fingers, admiring its otherworldly iridescence in full sun.   The underside of the bug looked just like highly polished copper.  The appearance of the thing so impressed me, I snapped some photographs.

When I arrived home from my trip to the cabin, I did some research.  The insect that crashed into me is a “metallic wood borer.”  They are sometimes called “jewel” beetles.  Most species of jewel beetles are uncommon and valued by insect collectors.  Unlike many wood boring insects, only a few species of the metallic wood borers are considered a pest.  Most types of the metallic wood borer attack only dead or dying trees.

 

 

--Mitchell Hegman