| Apalus bimaculatus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Meloidae |
| Genus: | Apalus |
| Species: | A. bimaculatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Apalus bimaculatus Linnaeus, 1761 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Apalus bimaculatus, the early blister beetle, is a species of blister beetle from the family Meloidae. It is the type species of the genus Apalus . [2]
This species is a 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long predominantly black beetle which has distinctive yellow-orange elytra each with a single black dot near the posterior end of each elytron. The females have a swollen abdomen and some of its segments are yellowish in colour. [3]
Apalus bimaculatus is a widespread species over much of Europe, as far north as southern Scandinavia [4] although it is absent from Great Britain. [5]
Apalus bimaculatus occurs in sandy area such as coastal dunes and riparian floodplains as well as being found in man made habitats such as sand pits and sand quarries. [3] It is a cleptoparasite of the solitary bee Colletes cunicularius . [3] The adults of this beetle emerge early in the spring to mate and to lay their eggs near the nesting aggregations of their host bee. They are short-lived and the females die after mating and the eggs hatch from the body of their mother and the larvae crawl out of the protection of their mother's corpse. [6] The first instar of larvae, the triungulins, are thought to be phoretic and to be carried to the host's nest by attaching themselves to the adult bees when they emerge from their natal nests in the spring, [6] although this has not been conclusively demonstrated in A. bimaculatus. [3] The triungulins do however react to the secretions of the adult host bees, orienting their movements towards them and this may be the first stage of being carried to the nest. [3] Once in the nest they consume the pollen stores of the bee as well as any unhatched eggs or larvae and overwinter to emerge in the early Spring. [6]
Globally Apalus bimaculatus is not regarded as threatened or endangered and in Scandinavia this species is regarded as Least Concern in Sweden, although in the past it has been assessed as "at risk" or "near threatened". Local populations are considered to be vulnerable to human development and programmes of translocation have been used to conserve populations of both the beetles and the nesting aggregations of Colletes cunicularius they use to host their larvae. [4] In Norway it was similarly regarded as being rare but has since been shown to be quite common in the south with at least 20 populations known, one reason for its apparent scarcity is that it in the Spring it emerges very early, earlier that most entomologists. [7]
The Spanish fly is an aposematic emerald-green beetle in the blister beetle family (Meloidae). It is distributed across Eurasia.
Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators.
A planidium is a specialized form of insect larva seen in the first-instar of a few families of insects that have parasitoidal ways of life. They are usually flattened, highly sclerotized (hardened), and quite mobile. The function of the planidial stage is to find a host on which the later larval instars may feed, generally until the insect pupates.
The northern colletes is a species of bee within the genus Colletes. Northern colletes are solitary bees, though females may nest in what are termed aggregations – sites where the bees nest close together, but do not form colonies as social bees do. They nest underground in soft soil, digging burrows up to 20 times their body length. It is often to be found nesting in coastal sand dunes and, on Hebridean islands, machair.
Meloe is a genus of blister beetles commonly referred to as oil beetles. The name derives from their defensive strategy: when threatened by collectors or predators they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints. This fluid is bright orange and contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical compound. Wiping the chemical on skin can cause blistering and painful swelling of the skin. This defensive strategy is not exclusive to this genus; all meloids possess and exude cantharidin upon threat.
The two-spotted bumble bee is a species of social bumble bee found in the eastern half of the United States and the adjacent south-eastern part of Canada. In older literature this bee is often referred to as Bremus bimaculatus, Bremus being a synonym for Bombus. The bee's common name comes from the two yellow spots on its abdomen. Unlike many of the other species of bee in the genus Bombus,B. bimaculatus is not on the decline, but instead is very stable. They are abundant pollinators that forage at a variety of plants.
Colletes hederae, the ivy bee, is a species of plasterer bee belonging to the family Colletidae subfamily Colletinae.
Lytta nuttalli, or Nuttall's blister beetle, is a species of North American beetle first described in 1824 by Thomas_Say. The genus Lytta is from a Latin word suggesting madness The specific nuttallii recognizes the contributions of Thomas Nuttall, a contemporary of Say.
Apalus is a genus of blister beetle from the family Meloidae. The species within the genus Apalus are parasitoids of solitary bees of the families Colletidae and Anthophoridae.
Berberomeloe majalis, the red-striped oil beetle, is an insect in the genus Berberomeloe, in the family of Blister Beetles. It is native to the western Mediterranean Basin.
Ceroctis capensis, or spotted blister beetle, is diurnal and endemic to Southern Africa occurring in diverse habitats, and belonging to the Meloidae or Blister beetle family. It secretes a toxic liquid from its leg joints when roughly handled, blistering human skin. This species somewhat resembles Mylabris oculata, a member of the same family.
Odynerus spinipes, the spiny mason wasp, is a species of potter wasp from western Europe. It is the type species of the genus Odynerus, being first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Colletes halophilus, the sea aster mining bee, is a rare species of mining bee from the family Colletidae which is found around the margins of saltmarsh and other coastal habitats in south-eastern England and north-western Europe. It is threatened by rising sea levels and human development which reduce its food plant sea aster and destroy its nesting areas.
Stenoria analis, the ivy bee blister beetle, is a species of blister beetle from the family Meloidae which is found in western Europe and North Africa and is a specialist cleptoparasite of the ivy bee larvae. Its occurrence in regions outside of the known range of the ivy bee, for example in North Africa, suggest that it has other hosts.
Colletes validus, colloquially known as the blueberry cellophane bee, is a solitary, specialist bee in the family Colletidae. It is found primarily in eastern North America where it nests in sandy soils near ericaceous plants.
Meloe franciscanus is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in the deserts of the southwestern United States. The larvae are parasites of bee larvae, eating them and consuming their provisions.
Colletes cunicularius, the vernal colletes or spring mining bee, is a species of solitary bee from the family Colletidae which is widespread in the Palearctic from Britain to the Pacific Ocean which nests in areas of open, sandy soil.
Sitaris muralis is a species of blister beetle in the subfamily Nemognathinae in the family Meloidae. It is found in Western Europe. It is a black beetle with buff-orange patches on the front of the elytra. It is a kleptoparasite of digger bees.
Meloetyphlus fuscatus, the blind blister beetle, is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae found in Central and South America. They are kleptoparasites of orchid bees and are entirely blind as adults. Unique among meloids, females do not lay their eggs near flowers, but rather within their hosts' nests.
Physomeloe corallifer is a species of blister beetle native to the Iberian Peninsula, it is the only recognised species in the genus Physomeloe.