Locust borer beetle
I am woefully deficient when it comes to identifying members of the vast insect order Coleoptera, but earlier this summer, I received a review copy of a book I'd long wanted to be written. Beetles of Eastern North America, by entomologist and cracker-jack photographer Arthur V. Evans, was, I told the author during an interview, "the answer to my prayers." Art received that blessing with grace and good humor, but I assured him that there was nothing hyperbolic in my declaration. The book is both gorgeous, informative, and exceedingly useful... and the answer to my prayer of becoming more familiar with beetles. I put it to use right away, and it helped. I've spotted and photographed this particularly striking insect, with its almost psychedelic colors and patterns, on Goldenrod flowers many times throughout the years, but I've never been able to identify it. A quick trip through the Evans book ended my ignorance. This is a Locust Borer Beetle (Megacyllene robiniae), a member of the Long-horned Beetle clan, the family Cerambycidae. I'm feeling smarter already, and this is just the start of the journey. Thanks, Art.