Photo
Details ©Nicky Davis
Located at Upper Setting, Uinta Mountains, Summit County, Utah -
29 June
2010 on Parsnipflower Buckwheat - Eriogonum heracleoides.
GPS N. 40.37.518, W. 111.08.151,
Elevation 7533
"The beetle is Trichodes
ornatus, Say
1823. This species is common in the mountains of Utah (and
elsewhere). The beetles are usually found on flowers, but I
suspect that they feed on insects visiting the flowers, rather than on
the flowers themselves. It is interesting that this species has
two very distinct color forms, normally without any intermediate
individuals. Roughly half of the beetles have yellow markings,
like the specimen you photographed. In the other half, the
markings are red instead of yellow." Shawn Clark
Article
regarding these as "Larval predator in the nests of bees and
wasps" and that the adults feed on pollen can be found at
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ese/aesa/194300000036/00000004/art00001
Family Tree
Family: Cleridae
Subfamily: Clerinae
Tribe: Clerini
Genus: Trichodes
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