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Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-303-121134224 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Hi Mike, The so-called "short-winged blister beetles" are those in the genus Meloe. In Nova Scotia four species occur (there are 22 species in North America): Meloe angusticollis Say - In the northeast it is found in MA, ME, NB, NH, NS, NY, ON, PE, QC, RI, & VT. It is distributed throughout North America. Meloe dianellus Pinto & Selander - In the northeast it is found in CT, MA, ME, NH, NS, NY, ON, QC, RI, & VT. It is distributed throughout North America. Meloe impressus Kirby - In the northeast it is found in ME, NB, NH, NS, NY, ON, PE, QC, & RI. It is a more northern species which does not occur in the American southeast or southwest. Meloe niger Kirby - In the northeast it is found in MA, NH, NS, NY, ON, QC, RI. It is distributed throughout North America except for the southeast. The common species in Nova Scotia are Meloe angusticollis and Meloe impressus. They are interesting beetles in several regards. Adults are phytophagous and feed on leaves and flowers of a variety of plants, however, the larvae are parasitoids of ground-nesting bees in whose nests they live. The soft portions of the bodies of these beetles contain a vesicating substance called cantharidin (produced by the male and transferred to the female during copulation). Adults can secrete this orange-coloured liquid from the joints of the legs, which is highly caustic and can cause blisters (in fact, in rare instances, it has caused the death of horses who consumed beetles on foliage). I have a particular fondness for these beetles since in Czech they are called "Majka filakova" (the violet Majka) and hence are my family's namesake! :-> "Majka" in this case derives from the month of May (= Maj) when they often appear in the Carapathians. Hence "Majka" means a "May beetle" in the same sense that we have "June bugs" here in North America. Cheers! Chris On 21-Jun-07, at 11:56 AM, Michael King wrote: > on Saturday while on the bird society field trip lead by Clarence > Stevens Sr.we found a short-winged blister beetle,can someone let > me know where this is from?is it in it's range?the little > information I found says it is from southern Canada and northern > USA.Nova Scotia is eastern??.I would apreciate any information > anyone can give. > > Thanks in advance, > > Mike > > _________________________________________________________________ > Windows Live Hotmail. Even hotter than before. Get a better look > now. www.newhotmail.ca?icid=WLHMENCA148 _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. --Apple-Mail-303-121134224 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Mike,<DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">The so-called "short-winged blister beetles" = are those in the genus <I>Meloe</I>. In Nova Scotia four species occur = (there are 22 species in North America):</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Meloe angusticollis</I> Say - In the = northeast it is found in=A0MA, ME, NB, NH, NS, NY, ON, PE, QC, RI, & = VT. It is distributed throughout North America.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Meloe dianellus</I> Pinto & Selander = -=A0In the northeast it is found in=A0CT, MA, ME, NH, NS, NY, ON, QC, = RI, & VT.=A0It is distributed throughout North = America.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Meloe impressus</I> Kirby -=A0In the = northeast it is found in=A0ME, NB, NH, NS, NY, ON, PE, QC, & RI. It = is a more northern species which does not occur in the American = southeast or southwest.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Meloe niger</I> Kirby -=A0In the northeast = it is found in=A0MA, NH, NS, NY, ON, QC, RI.=A0=A0It is distributed = throughout North America except for the southeast.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The common species in Nova = Scotia are=A0<I>Meloe angusticollis </I>and<I>=A0Meloe impressus</I>. = They are interesting beetles in several regards. Adults are phytophagous = and feed on leaves and flowers of a variety of plants, however, the = larvae are parasitoids of ground-nesting bees in whose nests they live. = The soft portions of the bodies of these beetles contain a vesicating = substance called cantharidin (produced by the male and transferred to = the female during copulation). Adults can secrete this orange-coloured = liquid from the joints of the legs, which is highly caustic and can = cause blisters (in fact, in rare instances, it has caused the death of = horses who consumed beetles on foliage).</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I have a = particular=A0fondness for these beetles since in Czech they are called = "Majka filakova" (the violet Majka) and hence are my family's namesake! = :-> "Majka" in this case derives from the month of May (=3D Maj) when = they often appear in the Carapathians. Hence "Majka" means a "May = beetle" in the same sense that we have "June bugs" here in North = America.</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers!</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Chris</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On 21-Jun-07, = at 11:56 AM, Michael King wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">on Saturday while on the bird society field trip = lead by Clarence Stevens Sr.we found a short-winged blister beetle,can = someone let me know where this is from?is it in it's range?the little = information I found says it is from southern Canada and northern = USA.Nova