impressive meloine beetle

(Meloe impressus)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
impressive meloine beetle
 
Description

Impressive meloine beetle is an elongated, medium-sized, blister beetle, ½ to 1 in length. Males are smaller than females.

The head, body, and legs are usually brilliant metallic blue, violet, or green, sometimes black.

The head is more or less rectangular when viewed from above. It is 70% to 80% as long as wide and is abruptly constricted behind the eyes forming a short neck. It is sparsely covered with scattered, fine pits. The upper margin of the eye is nearly straight. The antennae are bead-like and have 11 rounded segments. On males, the antennae are bent in the middle with segments 5, 6, and 7 forming a C-shaped kink. Segment 5 is enlarged and flared outward at the end.

The thorax is narrower than the head and abdomen. The upper plate covering the thorax (pronotum) has straight sides that converge toward the rear (posteriorly). It is sparsely covered with scattered, fine pits.

The abdomen is oval-shaped. There are no hindwings. The hardened forewings (elytra) are small, much shorter than the abdomen, and overlap at the base.

The legs are long and slender. The femur of the front leg does not have a patch of hair. A outer spur at the end of the fourth leg segment (tibia) of the hind leg projects toward the rear.

 

Size

Total length: ½ to 1

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

August to October

Biology

Season

 

 

Behavior

They are found on the ground or on low foliage.

When threatened or mishandled blister beetles (family Meloidae) exude a yellowish liquid from their joints. The thick oily substance contains the toxin cantharidin, which causes blistering on human skin.

 

Life Cycle

The female deposits eggs on foliage or in a 1″ deep burrow in the ground. After the eggs hatch the larvae pass through four stages. The first stage (triungulin) is mobile on plants. The entire hatched group climbs to the top of a plant and forms a cluster in roughly the shape of a female ground bee. It then exudes a chemical scent that mimics the pheromone of a female bee. When a male bee attempts to mate with the mass, some of the larvae attach themselves to its hairs. When the male mates with a female bee some of the larvae attach to the female. These remain on the female while she builds a nest, then detach and begin feeding on newly laid bee eggs. The second stage of this larva is a short-legged grub, called “first grub”, that spans four molts (instars). This stage feeds on honey in the nest. The third stage/sixth instar, called coarctate, is legless and immobile. The larva usually overwinters in this stage is a state of low metabolic activity (diapause), though it may overwinter in other stages. The fourth stage/seventh instar, called “second grub”, is a nonfeeding form that resembles the first grub. This stage feeds on honey and stored pollen. it is soon followed by the pupal stage.

Favorable environmental conditions may cause the larva to skip the coarctate stage. Adverse conditions may cause it to molt from the second grub back to the first grub, delaying the pupal stage until conditions improve.

 

Larva Food

Bee eggs and stored food in ground-nesting bee nests.

 

Adult Food

Plant foliage and flowers of many plants, including field mustard, hepatica, spotted touch-me-not, tall buttercup, bristly buttercup, Irish potato, virgin’s bower, and eastern white pine.

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

7, 24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

9/10/2024    
     

Occurrence

Infrequent

Taxonomy

Order

Coleoptera (beetles)

Suborder

Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles)

Infraorder

Cucujiformia

Superfamily

Tenebrionoidea (darkling beetles and allies)

Family

Meloidae (blister beetles)

Subfamily

Meloinae

Tribe

Meloini

Genus

Meloe (oil beetles)

Subgenus

Meloe

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

 

   

Common Names

impressive meloine beetle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Diapause

A period of decreased metabolic activity and suspended development.

 

Elytra

The hardened or leathery forewings of beetles used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying. Singular: elytron.

 

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Instar

The developmental stage of arthropods between each molt; in insects, the developmental stage of the larvae or nymph.

 

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot).

 

 

 

 

 

Visitor Photos
 

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Save The Goldens

impressive meloine beetle

Jackson Stai age 7

impressive meloine beetle

Mike R.

impressive meloine beetle

Have sighted several over the last three days.

BG

impressive meloine beetle

Ashlee B.

impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle
Found at 9:10pm in the outskirts of town.  

 

Kim W.

impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle
     
impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle

Sara Brice

impressive meloine beetle

Allen Guggisberg

impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle

Kirk Nelson

impressive meloine beetle

Denny

impressive meloine beetle
Near Otter Lake

Holly Clark

impressive meloine beetle
Eden Valley

Nikota

impressive meloine beetle

L

impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle

Michael Tuma

impressive meloine beetle

Mary Beth Townley

impressive meloine beetle
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
impressive meloine beetle   impressive meloine beetle

Male

 

Male

     
impressive meloine beetle

 

  impressive meloine beetle
 

Male and female

 

 

 

 

Male  

 

     
impressive meloine beetle    

 

Camera

Slideshows

 

 
 

 

slideshow

Visitor Videos
 

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Sara Brice

oil beetle impressus 01
Oct 18, 2020

About

oil beetle (Meloe impressus)
10/15/2020
Kaplan's Woods Owatonna, MN
Photo by Sara Brice
http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/oil_beetle_impressus.html

Other Videos

Wild Life Skills #9 - Oil beetles
Welcome to Wildlife Watch!

About

Uploaded on May 3, 2011

Nick Baker gets up close to one of the UK's most incredible insects - the oil beetle. Big, black and shiny with an amazing lifecycle, Nick's film will help you to discover more about these unusual animals plus you can find out more onour website: www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/oil-beetles

Awesome Detailed Macro Video Of An Oil Beetle On My Hand
Samantha Wimblett

About

Published on Mar 21, 2014

We have Oil Beetles in our Wiltshire Garden. Oil Beetles are reliant on solitary bees for their survival. Due to the destruction of the countryside ( by many different factors ) there has been a decline in the solitary bees. Thus the oil beetles are now declining rapidly.

TAKE CARE OF THEM, OIL BEETLES ARE LISTED AS PRIORITY SPECIES FOR CONSERVATION.

Video & Music by Samantha Wimblett

Pictures & Video using a Lumix FZ200 bridge camera

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 

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Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.

Save The Goldens
9/6/2024

Location: Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park

impressive meloine beetle
Jackson Stai age 7
9/5/2023

Location: 24651 Edenvale Trail, Elko New Market MN 55020

impressive meloine beetle
Mike R.
5/12/2013

Location: Fogard Lake (Otter Tail County), MN

Have sighted several over the last three days.

impressive meloine beetle
BG
4/14/2022

Location: Columbus, IN

impressive meloine beetle
Ashlee B.
12/5/2021

Location: Cottage Grove, Oregon

Found at 9:10pm in the outskirts of town.

impressive meloine beetle
Kim W.
9/8/2021

Location: Kaplan's Woods Owatonna, MN

impressive meloine beetle
Sara Brice
10/15/2020

Location: Kaplan's Woods Owatonna, MN

impressive meloine beetle
Allen Guggisberg
10/9/2020

Location: Ely, MN, St. Louis Co.

Found this one near Bearhead Lake State Park

impressive meloine beetle
Kirk Nelson
9/19/2020

Location: Whitetail Woods Regional Park

impressive meloine beetle
Denny
9/3/2020

Location: Lino Lakes, Mn

Near Otter Lake

impressive meloine beetle
Holly Clark
4/27/2019

Location: Meeker County

Eden Valley

impressive meloine beetle
Nikota
8/16/2018

Location: Henderson Township, Sibley County, MN

impressive meloine beetle
L
9/2/2017

Location: Big Lake, Sherburne County

impressive meloine beetle
Michael Tuma
8/15/2017

Location: Miesville Ravine Park Reserve, Miesville, MN

impressive meloine beetle
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

Binoculars