The Most POISONOUS Beetle in the WORLD!

This beetle is one of the most poisonous insects on the planet and there's a good chance that this one or one of its relatives might be in your backyard right now. It's springtime in North Carolina. Everything is full of life. The plants are blooming, the birds are singing, and of course insects are moving. Some of the weirdest finds are actually ones I have by accident, out walking the dog or on a run, I stumble onto some really odd creatures. It looks like a yellow jacket, but it's not. One group I've been requested to feature for a long time are the blister beetles. Like that strange bee, they seem to be just one of those things I accidentally stumble onto when I'm out and about, but I've been keeping my eyes peeled. As one of the most toxic insects on the planet, you know I cannot wait to finally get them on camera. And wouldn't you have it, while walking down by the creek, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Just found this weird beetle. Look at that thing. It's not moving fast. Let's see you buddy. Let's take a look at that. That's different. Check this out right here. I have been looking for one of these beetles for a very, very long time because this might be the most dangerous beetle on the planet. This is a blister beetle. And what if I told you that this creature might have the most toxic blood in the world. And this particular one is actually a really neat one because this is a species I have not seen before. And it has a really, really metal sounding name. This is a blood-winged blister beetle, which is very appropriate for how toxic and just unreal these insects are. Notice I don't have him on my hands right now because since I just freshly caught this insect, he's stressed. And if I got him in my hands, I might be in trouble. These blister beetles are poisonous. Really, really incredibly poisonous. But they're not poisonous in a way that you even have to necessarily eat them. They are so poisonous that even by touching them, you can have some pretty adverse effects. And the reason being is they get their name from a very, very particular toxin they create. It's called catheridin. And how it works is it's a severe irritant. The reason they're called blister beetles, if you get that chemical on your skin, it causes these huge, really painful blisters. And the way they actually secrete it is through their blood. That's right. This insect has poisonous blood. You're probably asking, Spencer, like, okay, so you can't eat it, right? Surely touching it isn't a problem. If they're calmed down, it's fine. When they're stressed, they do what's called reflexive bleeding. They actually can cause themselves to bleed. And if that blood gets on your skin, oh boy, you are in for a world of hurt. You can see right here, the beetles calmed down quite a bit. When I first grabbed him, you could see he was frantically walking all over this piece of bark here. But I wonder, I wonder if he'd be willing to come hang out on my skin. Look at that. I don't actually get to see blister beetles all that often. They're really not that common. And they seem to only be really active in the spring. This is the only time of year that I find them. And it's always crossing this road right in front of my house here. This particular one is actually, I only recognize it as a blister beetle because of those antennae there. A lot of blister beetles have those weird knobbly antennae. But they do have that kind of weird bulbous body and that kind of odd-shaped head. But the biggest thing is a lot of them are very, very shiny. They want it to be known that they are poisonous. And you can even see with this one, blood red on that jet black. And he is quite iridescent in the sunlight here. This is a beetle that advertises, hey, don't mess with me because you're not going to have a good time. If I were to pick him up or something, I'd have blisters all over my fingers because he would reflexively bleed to defend himself. And I'd be in a lot of pain. These guys are actually significant agricultural pests in places that are trying to raise livestock because they're herbivores. That aposematic warning coloration is not because they're venomous. They're not predators. They're not stinging. They're not biting. They're not subduing prey. They're eating alfalfa hay. They're eating grass. They're eating the things that cows and horses are eating. And what ends up happening is cows and horses accidentally eat these guys because they're just living in the vegetation that they're eating. That food for these animals is the habitat for this beetle. And that's where they become a problem. Because, well, for you or me, we'd be very sick. We'd be in a lot of pain if we ate or got too much of that catheridin on our hands. It's lethal for a lot of livestock. And in certain parts of the world, this can be an extremely, extremely dangerous beetle for a lot of animals that people need to raise for their livelihood. Very, very interesting creatures. And you know how much I just love toxic things. I joke. It's how I get into bad relationships. But this right here, very, very poisonous, but not something that really wants to use it against us. As you can see, you know, he's not oozing any blood. He's just hanging out. He wants to get back into, I guess, the pine needles over here. I have never seen this species before ever. And I've lived here for years. So it's possible that this one might be hiding underneath stuff during the day. And it's usually those kinds of things that elude me for years since I'm out here all the time. So I'm not sure exactly where he's trying to go, but his interest is getting back into the environment and not wasting that precious catheridin on me since I'm not squishing him. But it's probably one of the most unique defenses I have ever seen in an insect. And this is one of the more unique insects I've ever seen. So quite a special little find here in North Carolina. The arthropod world has some of the strangest biology in the animal kingdom. Poisonous blood, unparalleled camouflage, and even some of the most venomous stings on the planet. It really is almost like having aliens living among us. And under our feet, in the subterranean matrix of the ground we walk on, it gets even weirder. One of the strangest creatures in the entire world, and one that I've been after for a long time, is the forceps tail. The deeper we dive into its biology, the weirder it gets. So check out this video right here, where I get up close and personal with one to discover its unusual secrets. Hope to see you there, but until next time, don't forget to get outside and find your own adventure.