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Blister beetle

Beetles (Coleoptera) in the family Meloidae are commonly known as blister beetles. There are approximately 2,500 known species worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators.

Description

They are known as "blister beetles" because they secrete cantharidin, a poisonous chemical causing blistering of the skin and painful swelling. Cantharidin is used medically to remove warts, and is collected for this purpose from species of the genera Mylabris and Lytta, especially Lytta vesicatoria, better known as "Spanish fly".

Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bees, though a few feed on grasshopper eggs; while sometimes considered parasitoids, it appears that in general, the meloid larva consumes the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone, thus they are not obligatory parasitoids but rather food parasites that are facultatively parasitoid, or simply predatory. The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families like Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae.

Toxicity

The blister beetle genus Epicauta is highly toxic to horses. A few beetles consumed in a single feeding of alfalfa hay may be lethal. Poisonings have also been reported after use of "Spanish fly"-type folk medicines, and after handling blister beetle individuals. The toxic chemical is cantharidin.