Cellophane-bees
Guides
Tricrania sanguinipennis
Blood-winged Blister Beetle
Tricrania sanguinipennis is a flightless blister beetle (family Meloidae) native to eastern North America. Adults are 9–15 mm long with bright red, leathery elytra that conceal vestigial wings. The species is a parasitoid of solitary bees in the genus Colletes, particularly Colletes inaequalis. Its life cycle involves hypermetamorphosis, with a mobile triungulin larva that hitchhikes on male bees to access underground nest cells. The beetle has been documented from Saskatchewan to northern Florida, with Kansas marking its western limit.