meloidae
Myrmecos
Tag archives for meloidae
Answer to the Monday Night Mystery
Posted by Alex Wild on February 16, 2010 I am impressed. Several of you* figured out the mystery behavior: reflex bleeding, a defensive response employed by some arthropods with especially nasty hemolymph to deter predators. A couple of you even pegged the identity of the mystery arthropod, a blister beetle in the genus Epicauta. Here’s the uncropped photo: Five points each to Tim,…
Friday Beetle Blogging: Nemognatha Blister Beetles
Posted by Alex Wild on March 28, 2009 Some of the oddest blister beetles in western North America are in the genus Nemognatha. Their mouthparts have become elongate to form a proboscis- a common trait among other groups of insects- but rare among the beetles. They are commonly seen on flowers feeding on nectar. photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on…
Friday Beetle Blogging: Epicauta Blister Beetle
Posted by Alex Wild on April 4, 2008 Epicauta pardalis – spotted blister beetle Tucson, Arizona Here’s a beetle so toxic it can kill a horse. The horse doesn’t even need to ingest the beetle, it just needs to ingest something that the beetle bled on. Blister beetles produce the defensive compound cantharadin- the active ingredient of the aphrodesiac Spanish Fly- which they…