Lytta Arizonica
''Lytta arizonica'' is a species of blister beetle in the family Meloidae. It is found in North America. References * Selander, Richard B. (1960). "Bionomics, Systematics, and Phylogeny of Lytta, a Genus of Blister Beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae)". ''Illinois Biological Monographs'', no. 28, 295. Further reading * Arnett, R. H. Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). (21 June 2002). ''American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea''. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida . * * Richard E. White. (1983). ''Peterson Field Guides: Beetles''. Houghton Mifflin Company. Meloidae Beetles described in 1957 {{Tenebrionoidea-stub ...
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Meloidae
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. Description Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bees, though a few feed on grasshopper eggs. While sometimes considered parasitoids, in general, the meloid larva apparently consumes the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone; thus it is not an obligatory parasitoid, but rather a facultative parasitoid, or simply a kleptoparasite. The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families as the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae. Cantharidin, a poisonous chemical that causes blist ...
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