''Mylabris variabilis'' is a species of
blister beetle
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 ...
belonging to the
Meloidae family.
Subspecies
* ''Mylabris variabilis'' var. ''disrupta'' Baudi, 1878
* ''Mylabris variabilis'' var. ''lacera'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1827
* ''Mylabris variabilis'' var. ''mutabilis'' Mars
* ''Mylabris variabilis'' var. ''sturmi'' Baudi
Distribution
This common species is present in most of Southern Europe, from the
Iberian Peninsula to southern
Russia.
Fauna europaea
It can also be found in Caucaus and Transcaucasia, 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 northern Levant, Middle East and Central Asia and Siberia. [
]
Description
''Mylabris variabilis'' can reach a body length of .[ Zhao Pan, Marco A. Bologn]
Taxonomy, Bionomics and Faunistics of the Nominate Subgenus of Mylabris Fabricius, 1775, with the description of five new species (Coleoptera: Meloidae: Mylabrini)
/ref> These beetles have a cylindrical, elongate body with relatively convex, yellow-orange elytra and wide transverse black wavy stripes. Head is square shaped, with a flat forehead. Antennae are black and long with eleven segments. Pronotum is long and wide, with parallel sides. [ The size of the black markings and the color of elytra are very variable][ (hence the specie name ''variabilis''). Normally they have three black bands. The 1st and 2nd bands are sometimes divided into four distinct spots. ][Nature Wonders]
/ref> They are however distinguished from the similar species by a black stripe ath the end of the abdomen. This species is very similar to ''Mylabris pannonica
''Mylabris'' is a genus of beetles in the family Meloidae. It is endemic to the Palearctic realm. The species-rich genus ''Hycleus'' (c. 430 spp.) was historically confused with ''Mylabris''. It is superficially similar, but is centered on the A ...
'' Kaszab, 1956.
Biology
This species has a very complex biological cycle. Adults fly from June to September, feeding on flowers. During the larval stage they feed on eggs and larvae of grasshoppers.[
]
Bibliography
* Heiko Bellmann (1999): Der Neue Kosmos Insektenführer. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart.
*Heiko Bellmann: Insectes d'Europe, Artemis, Poche nature 2007, ()
*Michael Chinery, Insectes de France et d'Europe occidentale, Paris, Flammarion, août 2012, 320 p. (), p. 276
*Nikbakhtzadeh M.R., Tirgari S., 2002. Blister Beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae) in Nahavand County (Hamedan Province, Iran) and Their Ecological Relationship to Other Coleopteran Families, Iranian J. Publ. Health, Vol. 31, Nos. 1-2, PP. 55-62.
*Özbek H., Szaloki D., 1998. A contribution to the knowledge of the Meloidae (Coleoptera) fauna of Turkey along with new records, TÜBİTAK, Tr. J. of Zoology 22, 23-40.
References
External links
Insecta.pro
{{Taxonbar, from=Q464610
Meloidae
Beetles described in 1782