Tegrodera aloga
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Tegrodera aloga, the iron cross blister beetle, is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in Arizona, California, and Sonora. The common name refers to the black cross on the wing covers. The scientific name T. aloga was coined by Skinner in 1903.
Tegrodera aloga is generally about 2 cm long; it has a long, narrow and cylindrical body and a wide head. The beetle is easily recognizable due to its contrasting yellow and red spots found on its black body. The brightness of the spots warns of the cantharidin toxins the beetle carries; this coloration is known as aposematism, and it works as a warning signal to protect itself from predators. It is more common to find these beetles in larger groups rather than individually.
In Tegrodera aloga, the males fight among themselves for the ability to mate with a female. Mating takes place actively, with the male on the female's back. Together they climb among flowers and leaves. The adults feed on spring blossoms of Nama hispida and Eriastrum, alfalfa, and other desert plants. They will drink nectar as well. The hosts of the parasitic larvae are unknown, but assumed to be ground-nesting... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Iron Cross Blister Beetle sighting in Saguaro National Park on a given day, based on 108 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 354 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Iron Cross Blister Beetle in Saguaro National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to February, the lowest months. That is one of Saguaro National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 55 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Iron Cross Blister Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Saguaro National Park, in our data
Saguaro National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Iron Cross Blister Beetle sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Iron Cross Blister Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Saguaro National Park (108 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
