Bug FAQEpicauta hirticornis
Epicauta hirticornis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Meloidae
Source: Wikipedia
Epicauta hirticornis are slender beetles with black wing covers, red heads and striped black-and-white abdomens; the head is clearly set apart from the thorax and the abdomen tip sticks out beyond the wing covers. They gather in groups and the females lay yellow eggs in soil, where the larvae later hunt grasshopper eggs. Like other blister beetles, they produce cantharidin, a chemical that irritates skin and can burn the lining of the gut and urinary tract if swallowed.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle has a red head, black elytra and a black-and-white striped abdomen; the head is separated from the prothorax and the abdomen tip extends beyond the elytra.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It has a slender body shape.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
The beetle produces cantharidin, a powerful vesicant that irritates skin and, when swallowed, irritates the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Adults are gregarious and are usually seen in groups.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae burrow in soil until they locate grasshopper egg masses, which they eat.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females lay clusters of 100 to 200 elongated yellow eggs in soil holes; larvae hatch, find grasshopper eggs, molt four times over 3 to 4 weeks, and pass through distinct instars.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species was first described in 1880 by Haag-Rutenberg.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What does Epicauta hirticornis look like?
It is a slender beetle with black wing covers, a red head, and a black-and-white striped abdomen; the head is set apart from the thorax and the abdomen tip sticks out beyond the wing covers.
Source: Wikipedia
How do they reproduce?
Females lay clusters of 100 to 200 yellow eggs in soil; the larvae hatch, find grasshopper egg masses to eat, and go through several molts.
Source: Wikipedia
Are they a pest for gardens?
The larvae feed on grasshopper eggs, not on plants, so they are not a direct garden pest.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Meloidae)
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Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicauta_hirticornis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.