One of two mating pair of Meloe on wet mowed area during a warm day of very light drizzle broken intermittently by actual rain. I found nine individuals within a few square yards. Some were eating leaves of clover and perhaps other plants. (I later noticed one eating a dandelion leaf I picked.) Others were just sitting, waiting for a mate perhaps, while four were coupled like those pictured. One had a red-brown mite riding on its pronotum.

I hope to see some egg production and photograph the hatchling larvae. I want to see if they exhibit any sort of bizarre collective luring activity like Meloe franciscanus has been reported to do. (Larvae of that species mimic a female solitary bee by massing in the shape of a bee and emitting the female bee's pheromone so a male will land on them that they can hitch a ride with to find a real female bee. They then parasitize her several nests. For more details: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/beetles/beetle_larvae_mimic.htm)