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Oil beetle My mother holding two oil beetles in front of the camera. The females have a much larger body to hold lots of eggs. Maybe the left one is a male and the one on the right a female. <br /> <br /> Dutch name: Oliekever (Meloe Proscarabeus) Geotagged,Germany,Meloe proscarabaeus Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Oil beetle

My mother holding two oil beetles in front of the camera. The females have a much larger body to hold lots of eggs. Maybe the left one is a male and the one on the right a female.

Dutch name: Oliekever (Meloe Proscarabeus)

    comments (3)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Very interesting find, I never heard of oil beetles before. They look a bit different from most common beetles so it seems. Posted 11 years ago
    1. View Joost Thissen's profile
      Joost Thissen
      Lion
      View Lion class
      I had never seen them before also. Afterwards I read on wikipedia that some other oil beetle species (not this one) release oily droplets which cause blistering of the skin and painful swelling. Just be careful next time when handling them. Posted 11 years ago
  3. View BugGuy1970's profile
    BugGuy1970
    Green Fly
    View Green Fly class
    Yes, that is exactly correct: the one on the left is a male and the one on the right is a female. Male oil beetles have a distinct, noticeably sharp 'bend' midway up their antennae, which you can see in the specimen in your picture. It is shown very nicely in this photo at BugGuide.net https://bugguide.net/node/view/31678 Posted 5 years ago

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The Black Oil Beetle

"Meloe proscarabaeus" is a European oil beetle. It lives in meadows, field margins and other warm sites in all but the far north of the continent. It lacks hind wings and the elytra are correspondingly reduced in size.

Info 3 0
Similar species: Beetles
Species identified by Joost Thissen
View Joost Thissen's profile

By Joost Thissen

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
Uploaded Nov 22, 2013. Captured Apr 13, 2013 11:26 in Fürstenweg, Reinbek, Germany.
country flag of Germany Explore Germany 1,651 1,027 0
  • NIKON D60
  • f/8.0
  • 10/2000s
  • ISO100
  • 23mm