''Berberomeloe'' is a genus within the tribe Lyttini of the family

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 ...

, the oil or blister beetles. It includes two species, the red-striped oil beetle, ''

Berberomeloe majalis ''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. Description It has a typical length around 5 cm (2 in.). ...

'', and the less flamboyant '' Berberomeloe insignis''.

Taxonomy

Until recently these species were included in the genus ''

Meloe The blister beetle genus ''Meloe'' is a large, widespread group commonly referred to as oil beetles. They are known as "oil beetles" because they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints when disturbed; this contains cantharidin, a ...

'', which is treated in the tribe Meloini; the placement of what was previously called ''Meloe majalis'' instead in a genus within the tribe Lyttini was proposed by Bologna (1988) and has commanded general acceptance. As Bologna notes, it had long been known that the larval development of the red-stripted oil beetle was very different from that of most species placed in ''Meloe'', so that some authors treated it within the Lyttini genus '' Trichomeloe''. However the species does not fit into any other genus of Lyttini, having a unique combination of

autapomorphic In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...

characters, namely reduced

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

, no wings and modified antennae, so Bologna proposed the new genus. Bologna envisaged that other species currently placed in ''Meloe'' might be found to be anomalous once their larval development was studied in full. However, the addition of a second species to ''Berbermeloe'' came by a different route: García-Paris (1998). revived the name ''insignis'', which had been thought to be merely a synonym for ''majalis'', to describe a rare, distinct population endemic to the Spanish provinces of

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. Individuals of this type differed from typical ''B. majalis'' in several anatomical characteristics, and hence García-Paris argued that they should be given species status and should also be placed in ''Berberomeloe''.

Distribution

The genus ''Berberomeloe'' is endemic to the Western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, specifically the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Description

The coloration in the species ''Berberomeloe majalis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) is characterized by the presence of bright blood-red or orange transverse stripes across a solid black swollen abdomen (the length of this beetle may reach up to ). However, ''B. majalis'' varies extensively in colour. Populations of entirely black specimens without any red markings are found scattered over much of the distribution range of ''B. majalis''. These populations are often found close to populations consisting of red-striped specimens, but both morphs seem to be spatially segregated and no mixed series have been found in the field. Entirely black and red-striped specimens of ''Berberomeloes majalis'' are equally poisonous.

References

Meloidae {{Meloidae-stub