This "gold bug" is a Buprestid beetle
This isn't the "gold bug" from the Edgar Allan Poe story, but it will do until the real thing comes along. I believe it's a Buprestid Beetle aka Metallic Wood-boring Beetle (Buprestidae, Coleoptera). It's probably a Spotted Flower Buprestid in the genus Acmaeodera, and just maybe species Acmaeodera hepburnii. There are many different kinds, so I'll leave it at that. This one is perched on an old stem of native Bird's Beak (Cordylanthus rigidus, Orobanchaceae). (San Marcos Pass, 11 May 2019)
The NWS forecast called for a 50% chance of rain today, but it was mostly sunny all morning. I figured that if rain was heads, then it was coming up tails. But then in the middle of the afternoon dark clouds built up, we had lots of thunder, I unplugged my computer, and it rained hard with big drops . . . for about ten minutes! There was just a few hundredths of an inch of rain, but it was a nice moment. Our next chance of rain comes on Thursday as our "troffy" month of May continues.
This "gold bug" is a Buprestid beetle
This isn't the "gold bug" from the Edgar Allan Poe story, but it will do until the real thing comes along. I believe it's a Buprestid Beetle aka Metallic Wood-boring Beetle (Buprestidae, Coleoptera). It's probably a Spotted Flower Buprestid in the genus Acmaeodera, and just maybe species Acmaeodera hepburnii. There are many different kinds, so I'll leave it at that. This one is perched on an old stem of native Bird's Beak (Cordylanthus rigidus, Orobanchaceae). (San Marcos Pass, 11 May 2019)
The NWS forecast called for a 50% chance of rain today, but it was mostly sunny all morning. I figured that if rain was heads, then it was coming up tails. But then in the middle of the afternoon dark clouds built up, we had lots of thunder, I unplugged my computer, and it rained hard with big drops . . . for about ten minutes! There was just a few hundredths of an inch of rain, but it was a nice moment. Our next chance of rain comes on Thursday as our "troffy" month of May continues.