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- ›Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf, and Snout Beetles
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- ›Darkling Beetles and Allies
- ›Blister Beetles
- ›Meloinae
- ›Meloini
Oil Beetles
Meloe
The blister beetle genus Meloe is a large, widespread group commonly referred to as oil beetles. They are known as "oil beetles" because they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints when disturbed; this contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical causing blistering of the skin and painful swelling. Members of this genus are typically flightless, without functional wings, and shortened elytra.
13 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Meloe
subgenusMeloe
Eurymeloe
subgenusEurymeloe
Treiodous
subgenusTreiodous
Meloegonius
subgenusMeloegonius
Micromeloe
subgenusMicromeloe
Lampromeloe
subgenusLampromeloe
Meloe hungarus
speciesMeloe hungarus
Meloe erythrocnemus
speciesMeloe erythrocnemus
Afromeloe
subgenusAfromeloe
Mesomeloe
subgenusMesomeloe
Desertimeloe
subgenusDesertimeloe
Meloe olivieri
speciesMeloe olivieri
Meloe exiguus
speciesMeloe exiguus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Meloe in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 68006.