Bugging You From San Juan Island

Bugs like Blue. I found a bunch of these little ones yesterday floating on the surface of our above ground pool. They were also all along the outside of the pool (which is blue). I scooped out all the ones that were struggling in the water and watched as this one dried itself off. It reminded me of watching my cats grooming after finishing a meal of Fancy Feast wet cat food.

A Soft-Winged Flower Beetle, these are in the family Melyridae (Genus Listrus). At only about 2 mm in size, they were indeed pretty tiny. Listrus beetles feed on both pollen and nectar. They are covered with dense setae (little hairs) that pollen easily adheres to. Check out the paper reference below and learn how they have been recognized as one of the most important pollinators of plants in Western North America.

Reference: Jonathan R. Mawdsley. (2003). The Importance of Species of Dasytinae (Coleoptera: Melyridae) as Pollinators in Western North America. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 57(2), 154–160 pdf link at Bioone.org *Note* It will directly download the pdf when you click the link. https://bioone.org/journals/the-coleopterists-bulletin/volume-57/issue-2/541/The-Importance-of-Species-of-Dasytinae-Coleoptera–Melyridae-as/10.1649/541.pdf?casa_token=luFq1Z9jff4AAAAA:3-9zCg42504MZ0w5J1bfFu28XAWIA91G8bbrmDfDckmhTGAI6FTAjgcgBQVqCv847ogua3mL