Meloe

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Meloe
Oil beetle from Wiener Prater.jpg
Meloe violaceus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Meloidae
Subfamily: Meloinae
Tribe: Meloini
Genus: Meloe
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Synonyms
List
  • AfromeloeSchmidt, 1913
  • AlveomeloePripisnova, 1986
  • AnchomeloeIablokoff-Khnzorian, 1983
  • ChiromeloëReitter, 1911
  • CnestoceraThomson, 1859
  • CnetoceraReitter, 1911
  • Coeloemeloe
  • CoelomeloëReitter, 1911
  • DesertimeloeKaszab, 1964
  • LampromeloeReitter, 1911
  • LasiomeloëReitter, 1911
  • ListromeloëReitter, 1911
  • MeioeFuessly, 1775
  • MelittophagusKirby & Spence, 1828
  • Meloedubius
  • MeloegoniusReitter, 1911
  • MeloenellusReitter, 1911
  • MelveFischer de Waldheim, 1803
  • MicromeloëReitter, 1911
  • ProscarabaeusSchrank, 1781
  • SubmeloegoniusPliginskii, 1935
  • TaphromeloeReitter, 1911
  • TrapezimeloePliginskii, 1935
  • TreiodousDugès, 1869
  • Treiodus
  • TriungulinusDufour, 1828

Meloe is a genus of blister beetles commonly referred to as oil beetles. [1] The name derives from their defensive strategy: when threatened by collectors or predators they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints (legs, neck, and antennae). 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.

Contents

Morphology

Oil beetle adult dorsal view Oil beetle adult.jpg
Oil beetle adult dorsal view

Members of this genus typically have shortened elytra and lack functional wings. They are often iridescent blue, green, or black with pits/punctures on the elytra and thorax, and a bloated abdomen. Some species of males have kinks in their antennae, which are shaped differently for different species.

Biology

As with all other members of Meloidae, the larval cycle is hypermetamorphic; the larva goes through several body types, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin that finds and attaches to a host in order to gain access to the host's offspring. They usually climb onto a flower head, and await a bee there. They will then attach themselves to the bee. If it is a male, they wait for mating with a female. They will switch to the female when this takes place. If the bee is a female, however, she will take them back to her nest unwittingly. Once in the nest, the larvae morphs into a grub-like "couch potato" and feeds upon all of the provisions and the larva. Next, they form a pupa and emerge in various seasons depending on the species. Each species of Meloe may attack only a single species or genus of bees. Some are generalists. Though sometimes considered parasitoids, it appears that in general, the Meloe larva consumes the bee larva along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone; thus they do not truly qualify for this designation (see Parasitoid for definition).

Upon surfacing from their underground lives as larvae, the adults feed on plants in the Ranunculaceae, Ipomoaceae, and Solanaceae families.

Mating begins when a male mounts a female and releases chemical components through the kinks on the antennae, massaging her antennae and pulling them back. This serves to calm the female. Mating then occurs, with the male transferring his cantharidin to the female during this period and she coats her eggs with it. [2]

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Meloe: [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

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The Spanish fly is an aposematic emerald-green beetle in the blister beetle family (Meloidae). It is distributed across Eurasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blister beetle</span> Family of beetles

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.

<i>Epicauta</i> Genus of beetles

Epicauta is a genus of beetles in the blister beetle family, Meloidae. The genus was first scientifically described in 1834 by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean. Epicauta is distributed nearly worldwide, with species native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Surveys have found the genus to be particularly diverse in northern Arizona in the United States. Few species occur in the Arctic, with none farther north than the southern Northwest Territory of Canada.

<i>Lytta</i> Genus of beetles

Lytta is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. There are about 70 described species in North America, and over 100 species worldwide.

<i>Berberomeloe</i> Genus of beetles

Berberomeloe is a genus within the tribe Lyttini of the family Meloidae, the oil or blister beetles. It includes two species, the red-striped oil beetle, Berberomeloe majalis, and the less flamboyant Berberomeloe insignis.

<i>Berberomeloe majalis</i> Species of beetle

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.

<i>Ceroctis capensis</i> Species of beetle

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meloinae</span> Subfamily of beetles

Meloinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Meloidae. There are at least 330 described species in Meloinae.

Meloe carbonaceus is a species of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

<i>Meloe impressus</i> Species of beetle

Meloe impressus is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe dianella is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

<i>Meloe americanus</i> Species of beetle

Meloe americanus, the buttercup oil beetle, is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe barbarus is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

<i>Meloe campanicollis</i> Species of beetle

Meloe campanicollis is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe occultus is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe niger, the black meloe, is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe dugesi is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in Central America and North America.

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.

Meloe bitoricollis is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America.

Meloe strigulosus is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in Central America and North America.

References

  1. ↑ Oil Beetles (Meloe), BugGuide
  2. ↑ Pinto, J.D., Selander, R.B. The bionmics of blister beetles in the genus Meloe and a classification of the New World species. Illinois Biological Monographs. 1970.
  3. ↑ "Meloe Linnaeus, 1758". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  4. ↑ Pan, Zhao; Bologna, M.A. (7 July 2021). "Morphological revision of the Palaearctic species of the nominate subgenus Meloe Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Meloidae), with description of ten new species". Zootaxa. 5007 (1): 1–74. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5007.1.1 . PMID   34810573 – via Mapress.
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