Berber omeloe
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Berber omeloe | ||||||||||||
| MA Bologna , 1989 |
Berber omeloe is a genus from the family of the oil beetle (Meloidae) with western Mediterranean distribution, to which two of the largest beetles in Europe are counted.
features
The beetles are 40 to 70 millimeters long, with the females being slightly larger than the males. As with the other oil beetles, the wings of the animals are significantly shorter than the abdomen and in the end they gape strongly apart.
species
- Berberomeloe majalis : The orange-red stripes on the thickened abdomen are unmistakable. The distribution includes the western Mediterranean
- Berberomeloe insignis : Has no orange-red stripes on the abdomen, but this species is colored red on the temples. This endemic to Spain is rarely found in the south-west of the country near the coast.
Way of life
The adults feed on pollen . The larvae live exclusively parasitically , especially in the nests of solitary wild bees . The females lay about 2,000 to 10,000 eggs, as the loss rates from false hosts and predators are very high.
development
The development of the larvae , which are around three millimeters long after hatching, proceeds via hypermetamorphosis , so the various larval stages are designed differently. The first stage is not developed as a three-clawed ( triungulinus ) as in Meloe's . As a result, they cannot cling to a potential host animal , but have to actively seek out the host's nest. After they have first eaten the egg and then the nectar - pollen mixture in the host larva 's pantry, they leave the nest. They shed their skin one more time and are then more maggot-like and barely mobile, with receded legs.
Systematics
It has long been clear that berber omeloe are not closely related to the known oil beetles of the genus Meloe , as they do not develop the Triungulinus larva typical of Meloe in the first larval phase. Traditionally, berber omeloe was classified in the Lyttini tribe within the subfamily Meloinae. However, the latest molecular studies have shown that the Lyttini are polyphyletic .
swell
literature
- Bologna, MA (1989): Berberomeloe , a new west Mediterranean genus of Lyttini for Meloe majalis Linné (Coleoptera, Meloidae) Systematics and bionomics. Boll. Zool. , 55: 359-366.
- Garcá-París, M. (1998): revisión del género Berberomeloe (Coleoptera, Meloidae) y diagnosis de un endemismo ibérico olvidado. Graellsia , 54: 97-109.
- Bologna, MA, Oliverio, M., Pitzalis, M., Mariottini, P., (2008): Phylogeny and evolutionary history of the blister beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , 48: 679-693.
