Ornate Checkered Beetle: A pretty, big problem - killer of solitary bees.

Ornate checkered beetle, Dutch Lake, Clearwater.

It's funny how pretty can be dangerous.  In nature, bright colours are used as a warning sign.  "Mess with me and you may die."  Then there are the fakers, those mimics that sport colours as a warning sign but are empty of peril.  

The ornate checkered beetle is not poisonous, and I doubt it is using any kind of mimicry.  As an adult, the beetle spends a lot of time on flowers.  It eats the pollen and nectar.  It may eat smaller insects it comes across.  It also lays its eggs there.  I am inclined to believe that it blends in with the bright colours of the flowers it lives on.  They are fabulous pollinators.  Their hairy bodies pick up and distribute pollen.  They do dive deeply into flowers in search of nectar.  

The insidious thing about ornate checkered beetles is that they kill solitary bees like leaf-cutter bees or potter wasps.  They do this by laying eggs on the flowers they live on.  The larvae hatch and await a suitable bee to hitch a ride on.  They go back to the nest with the bee and release themselves when inside.  There they wait until the cell is sealed.  Then they begin to feed.

They eat the stored provisions first and then turn on the larval hymenoptera.  When that is gone, they may continue into the next cell and repeat the process.  They have been known to destroy eight individuals this way.  When they have fully matured as larvae, they pupate and remain until spring, when they emerge from the cells as adults.

Maybe that's the danger.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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