Anyone seen these bad boys before? They like to run and hide.
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Maybe some sort of ironclad beetle? Depending on your region they’re soil diggers which would ruin root masses & they eat leaves as well. Depending how bad the problem is they’re a multitude of things you can do to prevent them & eradicate.
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This is my best guess. Wish I could help you fight them off but I’ve never seen these before.
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wow, thanks for that resource.
digging a little further into Listrus:
Family Melyridae
Soft-winged flower beetles are a common sight on flowers, as the name might suggest. What I didn’t expect to learn is that they are in fact predaceous in both larval and adult forms, feeding on other insects. Larvae are commonly found in or on soil, under leaf litter, or under bark. Aside from insects, adults feed on pollen and perhaps the flowers themselves to a degree.
https://www.amateuranthecologist.com/2015/12/a-year-of-pollinators-beetles-bugs-and.html
which suggests that fighting with them might be the wrong approach.
although looking at the damage, I question the ID.
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Looks like blister beetles perhaps?
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that looks like the right critter.
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Thats a strange one. Looks like and Asian long horn bettle without the long antennas. Find the email to your local U and send the picture and they will help.you identify and eradicate them.
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Blister beetles
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They are infesting the garden. They’ve eaten up most of my one pepper plant and started munching the melons all over night. They’ve started to hit the lower hanging branches of the cannabis plant, though I havent seen any leaves get eaten yet on them. They have started to eat the two dead cannabis branches.
We’ve sprayed some safer soap and also whipped out the old blow torch. Worked wonders. I will check again in a couple hours.
But seriously, the fruit garden is only 250square feet and i bet there is almost 5k bugs in here as of before the torching
The area is southern Colorado
Thanks everyone, blister beetle looks spot on, lol
Epicauta pardalis
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You guys are Rockstars
P.s. don’t feed these guys to a horse
Diatomaceous earth might slow them down.
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Offer alternative untreated plants nearby could possibly control
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I have some WP Surround I am going to sprinkle all over
I have some mint and onion chives I’ve planted to help mitigate pest. They haven’t been touched. We have some alfalfa cover crop planted they can munch on. They love the bean, tomatoes, and peas. In the big field they seem to cling to the vines and weeds growing, leaving our cash crops alone so far… they also haven’t touched my sunflowers
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a few chickens would do work, but you need to supervise them around veggies you like, my girls haven’t gotten a taste for weed so far but i hear they can.
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Insecticidal soap might work but beetles are definitely a little more hearty than your normal pests like aphids and worms. Obviously I’m sure you want to avoid any real pesticides for beetles.
Maybe try a paraffin oil of some sort as a sufficant or even some organic options like Botanigard.
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I have guinea fowl and turkey 
they are busy critters
insecticidal soap was extremely helpful! Used it last night. The numbers have dropped significantly. I used a fogger just before the sun went down. Ph- adjusted to 6