Blister Beetle - Look but don't touch

The Summertime heat is rapidly approaching here in the central Arizona hills but the almost 6000 foot elevation and tall pine trees help cool the area around the creek.
While prospecting along Lynx Creek I spotted this colorful critter crawling over the rocks.
Bright and showy colors in the insect world are often a warning DANGER - Do Not Touch and in this case it's true.

Iron-Cross Blister Beetle
Tegrodera aloga

These beetles have a product called cantharidin in their blood which is a potential blistering agent. In high enough doses it can be lethal to animals that might ingest the beetles in their forage. In us humans it can cause painful blistering to the unwary individual that carelessly handles the beetle.

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/cantharidin
https://sabinonaturalists.org/critters/iron-cross-blister-beetle/

This close-up shows the striking coloration of the Iron Cross Beetle - a clear indication to avoid bothering the insect.

A couple more photos showing the beautiful coloration as it climbed over the exposed rocks.

Needless to say I didn't bother the beetle on its travels other than to take his picture.

For a bit more information
https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/blisterbeetles.html