Metallic Wood-boring Beetle (genus Anthaxia)
There are about 40 different species of beetle in this genus across the United States. The individuals pictured here might be in the subgenus Melanthaxia. While they are only about 3 to 8 millimeters in length, you tend to notice these small beetles since large numbers of the adults can be found on a single flower. They inhabit coniferous forests where the larvae bore into the branches of trees that are already injured, dying or dead. Photo by Ellen Knight on 7/15/19 in Missoula, MT.