Allendesalazaria nymphoides, the Hidden Blister Beetle

The blister beetles of the family Meloidae have attracted attention for a number of reasons. One is their production of caustic defensive chemicals which may be powerful enough to cause severe injury to humans or their livestock. Another is their remarkable life cycles. Many blister beetles develop as nest predators or kleptoparasites of bees. The larvae of these species are hypermetamorphic with the first instar being more mobile than later stages. These mobile larvae will find bees and latch onto them so that they can be carried to the host's nest.

Allendesalazaria nymphoides, copyright Stanislav Krejcik.

This association reaches an extreme in Allendesalazaria nymphoides of north-west Africa. This reclusive species has, to date, been recorded from localities in Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania (Bologna & Aberlenc 2002). It is readily distinguished from other blister beetles by its much-reduced elytra which are oval and widely separated from each other. It is also distinguished by claws that lack the free lower blade found in most other meloids (Bologna & Pinto 2002). Whether they produce the noxious chemicals known from other members of their family, I haven't found a record.

Allendesalazaria nymphoides develops in the nests of solitary burrowing bees of the genus Anthophora. Adults of A. nymphoides do not feed, and never emerge from the nest in which they matured. Instead, they lay their own eggs within that same nest. Dispersal is then left to the hatching larvae that (I presume) latch onto those emerging bees that escaped their parents' depredations. Eventually, the new generation of bees will establish nests of their own. And when they do, the blister beetles will be ready for them.

REFERENCES

Bologna, M. A., & H.-P. Aberlenc. 2002. Allendesalazaria, un nouveau genre de Meloidae pour la faune saharienne (Coleoptera). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 107 (2): 191–192.

Bologna, M. A., & J. D. Pinto. 2002. The Old World genera of Meloidae (Coleoptera): a key and synopsis. Journal of Natural History 36 (17): 2013–2102.