Garden Pests and Diseases: Big Blue Beetle, 0 by LAS14

LAS14 wrote:
What is this bug? It devestates plants within days in my wildish garden in Maine. It has attached clematis and anemones and I've seen it in the fields.

AND... probably more important. What can I do about it? An insecticide that works slowly won't do the trick, as it works very fast. If I see it in time, it's easy to squash.

Note - I got this photo from some other web site - don't remember where, but it had a link to mail the pictures, so I guess this is OK.

TIA
LAS