Meloe active near winter

[Dynastes]

I only run into a Meloe female every so many years. In the past I've found them around midsummer but this one was found yesterday. They can live quite a few months on honey but for some reason they never seem to lay eggs.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

I only run into a Meloe female every so many years. In the past I've found them around midsummer but this one was found yesterday. They can live quite a few months on honey but for some reason they never seem to lay eggs.View attachment 392View attachment 393

Cool find. Don't the larvae feed on bee larvae? Perhaps they time their egglaying with when the bees become active?

It's a very weird year for beetles. I found a female Xyloryctes jamaicensis sitting half dead in a parking lot a few days ago in 50 degree weather. I tried reviving it but it died on me anyway...

 

[Dynastes]

Cool find. Don't the larvae feed on bee larvae? Perhaps they time their egglaying with when the bees become active?

They feed on larvae but reports are they can survive on the larvae stores (pollen?) if larvae are removed. The ones I've found in early summer in the past did not lay eggs despite living a number of months. Considering the time of year this female probably isn't mated since it's unlikely a male accidentally emerged nearby.

 

[hardshell]

i heard that they spray burning acid...

 

[Zephyr]

I got a female to lay eggs about 5 years ago. I put her in a small deli cup with a piece of strawberry (I had no idea what she was) and the next thing I knew there was a glob of eggs next to her. I'll try to dig up a picture if I have one.

 

[likebugs]

I love the way those look!

I read that they can secrete something harmful, after I let a couple of them walk on my hands. I even picked one up with my fingers and felt how soft it was.

I guess I was lucky. They didn't do anything but walk on me.

 

[Matt]

Most Meloids are cleptoparasites of bee larvae. The active tringulin larvae climb onto a bee and are transported back to the nest where they leave the bee and enter a nest cell. The larvae will devour the bees egg and then consume the store of pollen. I assume that the larger female larvae will consume several or all off the nest cells in the burrow. A friend of mine tried rearing them in gelatin capsules with pollen and had the larvae feed and moult, but did not manage to gethem all the way to pupation.