{"id":2700,"date":"2014-06-02T17:48:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T21:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/?p=2700"},"modified":"2021-01-14T17:45:02","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:45:02","slug":"do-not-kill-shiny-emerald-turquoise-beetle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/do-not-kill-shiny-emerald-turquoise-beetle\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Careful Not to Kill It: Not Every Shiny Emerald Insect Is an Emerald Ash Borer!"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a recent walk at Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga, I spotted a brilliant turquoise insect ahead of me on the dirt and fine gravel path. At the very first, I wondered if it was one of the shimmering jewel-tone flies that gathered on the river road last year on top of drops of Gatorade.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

Stepping forward, I swung around to take photos with the light behind me. The insect turned from true-blue turquoise to rich shimmering emerald green as if a switch had flipped.<\/p>\n

My heart slipped. This must be one of those invading Emerald Ash Borers that are killing so many of the local trees.<\/p>\n

Still, I took several photos before it either sensed me drawing closer or it saw something of interest and it flew away. None is in perfect focus but they all show a long-legged beetle with 8 or so white blotches on the \u201dtail\u201d end of the body.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

This beetle is standing beside a tree blossom. In length, the insect is about 2\/3 the diameter of a dime.<\/em><\/p>\n

Emerald Ash Borers Do Not Have Long Legs<\/h2>\n

Once home, I clicked onto the internet to look up Emerald Ash Borers. The search engine results were full of photos of insects with short non-obvious legs. They sure didn\u2019t look much like my long-legged beastie.<\/p>\n

The shape was also all wrong. My bug had one of those in-and-out bodies like a hornet or an ant. The ash borers all seemed bullet-shaped or vaguely like a leaf-hopper.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

I scrolled down the images and suddenly saw my insect. When I clicked on this picture posted by Jacob\u2019s Tree Surgery, the caption leapt to my eyes: \u201cTHIS IS NOT THE DREADED EMERALD ASH BORER.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emerald Ash Borers Do NOT Have White Spots<\/h2>\n

The white spots so obvious on my insect were another big clue. The Emerald Ash Borer does not have large noticeable white spots or splodges.<\/p>\n

So What Native Emerald (or Turquoise) White-Spotted Long-Legged Beetle Was It?<\/h2>\n

Luckily the arborist\u2019s website led me quickly to a name: I had found a Six Spotted Tiger Beetle. True, it had more than 6 white spots. Some times they have fewer as well. But according to Bugguide.net that\u2019s what it was<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The info section was particularly informative. It says that 6 Spotted Tiger Beetles are often found \u201chunting along sidewalks\/roads and on large lying logs<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d That fairly perfectly described the habitat I found my beetle hunting in: a road-like path which was bordered on either side by large lying logs.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

What Do 6 Spotted Tiger Beetles Eat?<\/h2>\n

If these pretty insects don\u2019t eat ash trees, what do they eat?<\/p>\n

According to the Fairfax County Public Schools website<\/strong><\/a>, they eat pretty much anything small and bug-like which they can catch. The eat caterpillars, beetles, ants, grasshoppers, flies and spiders.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t say whether they eat Emerald Ash Borers but one can always hope!<\/p>\n

Either way, I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t just step on it and squish it which I admit did go through my mind. I would have been killing an innocent and useful insect just because of an extremely superficial resemblance to a pest.<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n