Rugged Oil Beetle

There are five species of oil beetles in the uk the black oil beetle meloe proscarabaeus the violet oil beetle meloe violaceus the short necked oil beetle meloe brevicollis the rugged oil beetle meloe rugosus and the mediterranean oil beetle meloe mediterraneus the first three can be found in the spring and we need your help to monitor their distribution to aid our conservation work.

Rugged oil beetle. 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. Our limestone s living legacies project team would like to invite you to an online event featuring the rugged oil beetle. Join them to learn how to identify and survey for this rare beetle one of their target species. The rugged oil beetle has an extraordinary life cycle which relies on solitary mining bees.

We will have jennifer gilbert joining us in this vmu. Uksi classification unranked biota kingdom animalia phylum arthropoda subphylum hexapoda class insecta order coleoptera family meloidae genus meloe species meloe rugosus. The blister beetle genus meloe is a large widespread group commonly referred to as oil beetles. You will need to look closely to tell these two beetle apart both have a rather rough appearance to their thorax abdomen and elytra wing cases the rugged oil beetle has a distinct narrow groove in the middle of its thorax and is smaller than.

They are an indicator species for species rich grassland habitats and over the last few of years several organisations have established regular rugged oil beetle surveys in order to record their numbers. This didn t seem to put anyone off with a turnout of over 30. I recently interviewed two of our gwt volunteers to find out more about their discoveries so far this season. Oil beetle survey oil beetle hunt back to find a survey or scheme there are five species of oil beetles in the uk the black oil beetle meloe proscarabaeus the violet oil beetle meloe violaceus the short necked oil beetle meloe brevicollis the rugged oil beetle meloe rugosus and the mediterranean oil beetle meloe mediterraneus.

Rugged oil beetles are out and about but only if you know where to look. Adult female beetles lay thousands of eggs in an underground nest during the autumn and winter which hatch out in early april. Rugged oil beetles are similar looking to the mediterranean oil beetle meloe mediterraneus. It is however also nocturnal so you do need to wrap up warm when surveying on a cold winter s night.

These tiny beetle larvae then climb onto a flower head and wait for a solitary bee to come to collect pollen and nectar. On the hunt for the rugged oil beetle in the gloucestershire cotswolds. Jennifer gilbert works for butterfly conservation and is the community engagement officer for back from the brink s limestone s living legacies project based in the cotswolds. The rugged oil beetle is one species that is active as an adult from september through to early spring meaning that autumn and winter is the best time to survey for it.