Livestock-poison
Guides
Epicauta vittata
striped blister beetle, old-fashioned potato beetle
Epicauta vittata is a blister beetle native to eastern North America, known for its distinctive black and yellow striped coloration and its status as a significant agricultural pest. Adults feed voraciously on a wide range of crop plants, particularly solanaceous species, and are capable of forming dense aggregations that move en masse through fields. The species contains cantharidin, a toxic terpenoid that poses serious health risks to livestock, particularly horses, when beetles are accidentally consumed in hay. The complex life cycle includes a mobile triungulin larval stage that parasitizes grasshopper egg cases before becoming a sedentary grub.