Black Beetles on My Flowers

Blister Beetle

• Adult blister beetles feed on flowers, especially those found on crops, garden vegetables, fruit and ornamental plants. More than 100 species of blister beetles exist, varying in size from 3/8 to 1 inch in length. The beetles appear solid gray to black in color with wings that look either metallic, yellow-striped or spotted. The beetles spend the winter in the larval stage with pupation occurring in the spring. The immature beetles feed on grasshopper eggs, making them a beneficial insect when young. The adult beetles come out in early summer, when they form groups that feed on leaves and flowers. The beetles contain a toxin that can cause people's skin to blister, so handling them is discouraged.

Soldier Beetles

• Black-colored beetles with yellow stripes may be soldier beetles, a beneficial insect lingering on your flowers. When the beetles are in the larval stage, they feed on predators that could harm your other plants. Their favorite foods include grasshoppers eggs, small caterpillars and maggots. The eggs hatch in six to 11 days during warm weather with the larva resembling black caterpillars. Look for pincher-like jaws to distinguish between caterpillars and soldier beetle larvae. As adults, the beetles feed on flower pollen, helping to pollinate the plants. The beetles fall into the family of leather-winged beetles, thanks to wing covers that resemble leather more than the shell-like, hard wings of other types of beetles.

Black Carpet Beetle

• Black to reddish brown in color, the black carpet beetle eats just about any type of animal product it can find, including leather, silk, feathers, hair, dead insects, meal and dried plant material. The beetles also eat flower pollen, often coming into the house while hanging onto a cut flower. From there, they look for animal foods. The beetles also lay their eggs in the house around baseboards or in the ducts of furnace systems, among other places. While seeing one or two carpet beetles doesn't mean you have a problem, finding lots of them could be sign of an infestation. Find the infested item, then clean or completely destroy it to get rid of the beetles.