Brachys sp. (Wood-Boring Beetle).
 
 
 
Size: approx. 3-5 mm. Photo: 07/21/11, 1 pm.


Very strange and tiny beetle. When I took this image, I wasn't quite sure whether this is an insect at all or just dirt. Now I know that it's the metallic wood-boring beetle Brachys sp. (I guess that it's B. ovatus but the photo is unfortunately too poor). The beetles feed on the upper surface of leaves. 
 
 
bug guide:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/12536
beetles in the bush:
http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/category/arthropoda/insect
Weiss and Nicolay: The Canadian Entomologist, 51, 86-88 (1919):
http://pubs.esc-sec.ca/doi/abs/10.4039/Ent5186-4