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''Meloe violaceus'', the violet oil beetle, is a species of oil beetle belonging to the family 
The body of ''Meloe violaceus'' is long, females are somewhat larger than the males. These beetle are black-blue or violet-blue, head and pronotum are very finely dotted and the elytra are quite shorter than the abdomen, as in other Meloinae species.
The adults live on a sunny, dry area with flowering plants, feeding on pollen.
In May–June the female digs into the soil deep cylindrical holes, where they lay a very large quantity of eggs (about 2,000–10,000).
After about a month larvae emerge from eggs and climb up on grass or on flowers, waiting to cling to the thorax of approaching potential host insects seeking pollen or nectar.
The larvae have an exclusively parasitic life, primarily in the nests of solitary bees, or sometimes of locusts. If the larvae have inadvertently selected a honey bee, they die in the hive and may cause serious damage.
When the host female bee lays eggs in its cells, the first-stage larva of the violet oil beetle eats the eggs of the bee, increases in volume and becomes the second-stage larva, which continues its development eating honey and pollen. The larva, after other two stages, forms the nymph and finally the imago.
Bug Guide, Oil Beetles (''Meloe'')
* Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust
Join the Hunt for Amazing Oil Beetles
* Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust
Oil Beetle Life Cycle
Meloidae
Biolib
Habitas
Fauna Europaea
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1315694 Meloidae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1802
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 ...
subfamily Meloinae.
These beetles are present in most of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, in the eastern Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
, in the Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
, and in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.
This species is characterized by hypermetamorphosis
Hypermetamorphosis, or heteromorphosis,P.J. Gullan & P.S. Cranston. 2010. The Insects: An Outline of Entomology, 4th Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. is a term used in entomology that refers to a class of variants of holometabolism, that is to say, com ...
, a kind of complete insect metamorphosis in which, in addition to the normal stages of larva, nymph and imago, they have several others, with great differences in appearance and way of life.
The body of ''Meloe violaceus'' is long, females are somewhat larger than the males. These beetle are black-blue or violet-blue, head and pronotum are very finely dotted and the elytra are quite shorter than the abdomen, as in other Meloinae species.
The adults live on a sunny, dry area with flowering plants, feeding on pollen.
In May–June the female digs into the soil deep cylindrical holes, where they lay a very large quantity of eggs (about 2,000–10,000).
After about a month larvae emerge from eggs and climb up on grass or on flowers, waiting to cling to the thorax of approaching potential host insects seeking pollen or nectar.
The larvae have an exclusively parasitic life, primarily in the nests of solitary bees, or sometimes of locusts. If the larvae have inadvertently selected a honey bee, they die in the hive and may cause serious damage.
When the host female bee lays eggs in its cells, the first-stage larva of the violet oil beetle eats the eggs of the bee, increases in volume and becomes the second-stage larva, which continues its development eating honey and pollen. The larva, after other two stages, forms the nymph and finally the imago.
References
* Anderson, R., Nash, R. & O'Connor, J. P., 1997, Irish Coleoptera: a revised and annotated list, Irish Naturalists' Journal Special Entomological Supplement, 1–81 * Buck, F. D., 1954, Coleoptera: Lagriidae to MeloidaeBug Guide, Oil Beetles (''Meloe'')
* Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust
Join the Hunt for Amazing Oil Beetles
* Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust
Oil Beetle Life Cycle
Meloidae
External links
Biolib
Habitas
Fauna Europaea
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1315694 Meloidae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1802