Who's this fella please?
Strange beast
- Thread starter mbc
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I think it's an oil beetle of some sort.
James
James
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Agree with James but never heard of them before.
Apparently quite rare.
https://www.coleoptera.org.uk/meloidae/home
Apparently quite rare.
https://www.coleoptera.org.uk/meloidae/home
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It's a Bechingalw
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loads around this year apparently - or in the Margam/Port Talbot area anyway
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Werewolf.
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Can that thing actually fly? 
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No that's vampires
What’s that in English?
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A Thingummy
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a watchamacallit
OP
Google says its a iridescent blue beetle
Antipodes
Queen Bee
Black rather than violet perhaps...lower thorax not indented or sharp toothed?
https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2019/08/Oil-Beetle-national-survey-leaflet-for-web_5-species.pdf
oxnatbees
House Bee
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Buglife would be interested in this, they are trying to map this rare beetle:
https://www.buglife.org.uk/scottish-oil-beetle-search/
https://www.buglife.org.uk/scottish-oil-beetle-search/
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Interesting life cycle
Oil beetles have an amazing life cycle, intricately linked to that of solitary bees. After hatching, oil beetle larvae (known as triungulins) make their way onto a flower head where they lie in wait for a solitary bee. Using specialised hooks on their feet, they attach themselves to the back of a visiting female bee and when the bee returns to its underground nest, the triungulin disembarks and continues its development underground, eating through the bee’s stores of pollen and nectar. The following year, it emerges as an adult oil beetle ready to start the life cycle all over again.
Oil beetles have an amazing life cycle, intricately linked to that of solitary bees. After hatching, oil beetle larvae (known as triungulins) make their way onto a flower head where they lie in wait for a solitary bee. Using specialised hooks on their feet, they attach themselves to the back of a visiting female bee and when the bee returns to its underground nest, the triungulin disembarks and continues its development underground, eating through the bee’s stores of pollen and nectar. The following year, it emerges as an adult oil beetle ready to start the life cycle all over again.
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I did have some oil beetles around my apiary a few years ago, but I haven’t seen them recently. Shame, they’re quite striking. Also means there are solitary bees around.
Ron Birrell
New Bee
I agree with James. It's a Black Oil Beetle. Meloe proscarabaeus.
