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Photo#31675
Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male - female

Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - Male Female
Windham, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA
September 14, 2005
Size: 15 - 25 mm approx.
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)

Images of this individual: tag all
Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male - female Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male Meloe sp. mating pair - Meloe impressus - male

Sighting in Minnesota
I observed 5 specimens in east central Minnesota today, 10/04/11, at 4:30PMCDT, munching on a potatoe vine. The largest is 1 1/8" long (plus antennae). I've never seen these before, lived here almost 60 years.

Meloe impressus Kirby
John Pinto det.

Moved from Oil Beetles.

 
Gosh, thanks!
I had despaired of ever having the Meloes getting specific ID's.

In My Veggie Garden
I found beetles on my potato plants and I'm almost sure it's this one. Does that make sense?

 
Females seem to eat anything green.
It takes a lot of munching to swell the abdomen up with eggs like that.

Here's the mite rider
I put it in the guide pages for mites.

Nice shots, Jim,
and interesting too.

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