Large blue termite??? - Meloe angusticollis

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Copyright © 2008 Alan Emery

Large blue termite??? - Meloe angusticollis

Janetville, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada
May 8, 2008
Size: approximately 3 cm

This large termite-like insect is bright metallic blue. It is about 3 cm when happy and coils up to about 1.5 cm when pretending to be dead. It plays possum when touched or when a sudden dark shadow passes over it. When it stops playing possum, it hightails it for a cranny to hide in. The head and thorax are very mobile and it seems to make "decisions". First defense includes an orange exudate.

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Large blue termite??? - Meloe angusticollis

Contributed by Alan Emery on 10 May, 2008 - 8:01pm
Last updated 5 June, 2009 - 10:22pm

Meloe angusticollis

John Pinto det.

Moved from Oil Beetles.

… v belov, 5 June, 2009 - 10:22pm

oil beetle (meloe)

when i saw my first one of these it surprised me too!

i think they are called "oil beetle" because of the nastyness that they secrete

… Vespula vulgaris, 10 May, 2008 - 8:17pm

Meloe

That was fast!

Many thanks, this was the second one I had seen. The first one appeared to die so instead of taking a picture, I put it in the grass. Moments later when I went to look at it again, it was gone. So when the second one up and "died" as well, I waited to see if it was a ruse -- sure enough it recovered as soon as it was no longer aware of my presence.

Alan

… Alan Emery, 10 May, 2008 - 8:57pm

Oh gee,

I so wanted it to be a giant blue termite ;-)

… Jim McClarin, 11 May, 2008 - 8:35pm

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