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-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-siz --0015174c0f142041dc0487eb116f Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Thanks Chris, I have updated the photo info. On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>wrote: > Hi Bob, > > There is no doubt that this is a beetle in the genus Meloe. It's certainly > not *Meloe americanus* (which is not found in Nova Scotia). There are four > species of *Meloe* found in Nova Scotia, the two very common ones being *Meloe > angusticollis* Say and *Meloe impressus* Kirby (*Meloe dianellus* Pinto & > Selander and *Meloe niger* Kirby are also found). It's not possible to > tell which of these this female is since one needs to see details of the > punctation on the head and pronotum to differentiate them. *M.* dianellus is > the only species that has been recorded in Guysborough County, but all the > species could potentially occur. > > These beetles dig in the sand since they lay eggs in the nests of > ground-nesting bees, their larvae being parasitoids on the larvae and pupae > of bees. They are also interesting in that the cantharidin is produced by > the males and is transferred to females during copulation. Cantharidin is a > significant toxin and a vesicating substance. It has, on occasion, been know > to cause serious illness (and even deaht) in grazing animals such as horses. > > Should you be there again, it would be worth collecting one of these > specimens to determine the identity of the species. > > All the best! > > Chris > > On 31-May-10, at 6:22 PM, Rick Ballard wrote: > > On the walk along the Glenelg, St. Mary's River floodplain with Bob > Bancroft I took this photo<http://www.flickr.com/photos/ideaphore/4657582046/>of a large flightless Blister > Beetle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meloe> digging in the sand. In fact > its head is buried in the sand. There was some discussion at the time as to > whether it was a beetle, since it does not have the usual full wing covers. > I sent a short note off to www.whatsthisbug.com last night and got an > answer this morning. > > Luckily no one picked it up...Wikipedia says the following: > > "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." > > -- > Rick Ballard > Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada > http://www.ideaphore.com > > > > > Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> | Halifax, Nova Scotia, > Canada > > * Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum | > http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm > * Review Editor: The Coleopterists Bulletin | http://www.coleopsoc.org/ > * Subject Editor: ZooKeys | > http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index > * Associate Editor: Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society | > http://www.acadianes.org/journal.html > * Editor: Atlantic Canada Coleoptera | > http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html > > *"Whenever I hear of the capture of rare beetles, I feel like an old > war-horse at the sound of a trumpet."* - Charles Darwin > > -- Rick Ballard Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada http://www.ideaphore.com --0015174c0f142041dc0487eb116f Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thanks Chris, I have updated the photo info.<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quo= te">On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Christopher Majka <span dir=3D"ltr">&l= t;c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca>= ;</span> wrote:<br> <blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde= r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div style=3D"wor= d-wrap: break-word;">Hi Bob,<div><br></div><div>There is no doubt that this= is a beetle in the genus Meloe. It's certainly not <i>Meloe americanus= </i> (which is not found in Nova Scotia). There are four species of <i>Melo= e</i> found in Nova Scotia, the two very common ones being=A0<i>Meloe angus= ticollis</i> Say and=A0<i>Meloe impressus</i> Kirby (<i>Meloe dianellus</i>= Pinto & Selander and=A0<i>Meloe niger</i> Kirby are also found). It= 9;s not possible to tell which of these this female is since one needs to s= ee details of the punctation on the head and pronotum to differentiate them= . <i>M.</i>=A0<span style=3D"font-style: italic;">dianellus</span>=A0is the= only species that has been recorded in Guysborough County, but all the spe= cies could potentially occur.</div> <div><br></div><div>These beetles dig in the sand since they lay eggs in th= e nests of ground-nesting bees, their larvae being parasitoids on the larva= e and pupae of bees. They are also interesting in that the cantharidin is p= roduced by the males and is transferred to females during copulation. Canth= aridin is a significant toxin and a vesicating substance. It has, on occasi= on, been know to cause serious illness (and even deaht) in grazing animals = such as horses.</div> <div><br></div><div>Should you be there again, it would be worth collecting= one of these specimens to determine the identity of the species.</div><div= ><br></div><div>All the best!</div><div><br></div><div>Chris</div><div> <div></div><div class=3D"h5"><div><br><div><div>On 31-May-10, at 6:22 PM, R= ick Ballard wrote:</div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite">On the walk along the= Glenelg, St. Mary's River floodplain with Bob Bancroft I took this <a = href=3D"http://www.flickr.com/photos/ideaphore/4657582046/" target=3D"_blan= k">photo</a> of a large flightless <a href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/= Meloe" target=3D"_blank">Blister Beetle</a> digging in the sand. In fact it= s head is buried in the sand. There was some discussion at the time as to w= hether it was a beetle, since it does not have the usual full wing covers. = I sent a short note off to <a href=3D"http://www.whatsthisbug.com" target= =3D"_blank">www.whatsthisbug.com</a> last night and got an answer this morn= ing.<br> <br>Luckily no one picked it up...Wikipedia says the following:<br><br><di= v style=3D"margin-left: 40px;">"They are known as "oil beetles&qu= ot; because they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints when = disturbed; this contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical causing blisteri= ng of the skin and painful swelling."<br clear=3D"all"> </div><br>-- <br>Rick Ballard <br>Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada <br><a href= =3D"http://www.ideaphore.com" target=3D"_blank">http://www.ideaphore.com</a= ><br></blockquote></div><br></div><br><br></div></div><div> <span style=3D"= border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New= Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; fon= t-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent:= 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div s= tyle=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:= 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-varia= nt: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: norma= l; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacin= g: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:= 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-varia= nt: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: norma= l; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacin= g: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:= 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-varia= nt: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: norma= l; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacin= g: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:= 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-varia= nt: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: norma= l; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacin= g: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:= 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-varia= nt: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: norma= l; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacin= g: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;"> <div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">Christopher Majka = =A0<<a href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca" target=3D"_blank">c.majka= @ns.sympatico.ca</a>> |=A0Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada</span></font></di= v><div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;"><br> </span></font></div><div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">= * Research Associate: Nova Scotia Museum |=A0<a href=3D"http://museum.gov.n= s.ca/mnh/research-asfr.htm" target=3D"_blank">http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/r= esearch-asfr.htm</a></span></font></div> <div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">* Review Editor: The= Coleopterists Bulletin |=A0<a href=3D"http://www.coleopsoc.org/" target=3D= "_blank">http://www.coleopsoc.org/</a></span></font></div><div><font size= =3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">* Subject Editor: ZooKeys |=A0<a hr= ef=3D"http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index" target=3D"_= blank">http://pensoftonline.net/zookeys/index.php/journal/index</a></span><= /font></div> <div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">* Associate Editor: = Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society |=A0<a href=3D"http://www.acad= ianes.org/journal.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.acadianes.org/journal.= html</a></span></font></div> <div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;">* Editor: Atlantic C= anada Coleoptera |=A0<a href=3D"http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/a= tlantic_coleoptera.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Enviro= nment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html</a></span></font></div> <div><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;"><br></span></font></= div><div><font size=3D"3"><font size=3D"3"><span style=3D"font-size: 12px;"= ><i>"Whenever I hear of the capture of rare=A0beetles, I feel like an = old war-horse at the sound of a trumpet."</i></span></font><span style= =3D"font-size: 12px;"><span>=A0</span>- Charles=A0Darwin</span></font></div= > </div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></sp= an> </div><br></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Ric= k Ballard <br>Dartmouth,Nova Scotia, Canada <br><a href=3D"http://www.ideap= hore.com">http://www.ideaphore.com</a><br> --0015174c0f142041dc0487eb116f--
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