Genus Meloe - Oil Beetles

Nearctic fauna revised in (1)

Meloe Linnæus 1758

22 spp. in our area(2), >150 total, arranged into 16 subgenera(3)

Not yet in the Guide:

(last five: subgenus Meloe)

12‒30 mm(4) NB: on species pages, length indicated from frons of head to apex of elytra

Hind wings absent; elytra reduced and overlap at base. Males smaller than females, with modified antennae:

Primarily holarctic (mostly Palaearctic), with meager representation in more southern areas; throughout NA (to nw. Colombia; Hispaniola)(2)(3)

Ground or low foliage(4)

Larvae feed on eggs and other food in bees' nests(4)

In some species, triungulins aggregate and use chemical signals to attract male bees to which they attach themselves. This allows transport (and transfer) to a female bee who carries them back to her nest (Saul-Gershenz & Millar 2006)

First-instar larvae climb to the top of a plant in numbers, clump together in the shape of a female bee, exude a scent imitating the female bee pheromone. When a male bee tries to mate with the clump, the larvae clamp onto his hairs and eventually get to female bees when he mates for real. Impregnated female bees build nests in burrows; triungulins move to the nests and feed on honey and pollen stocked by the bee for her young. ―Jim McClarin