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Project Noah Nature School
Mylabris Sp
Blister beetles produce cantharidin, which is toxic to people and animals. This toxin is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and excreted in the urine. Cantharidin is the poisonous substance in blister beetles and is thought to protect the beetles from predation. It is comparable to cyanide and strychnine in toxicity . The toxin is found in the hemolymph and gonads of the blister beetle. The content of cantharidin in the beetles ranges from 1-5% of dry weight. Cantharidin is present in all stages of blister beetle . Cantharidin is produced only by male blister beetles and is stored until mating. The male beetle biosynthesizes about 17 mg of the toxin, representing 10% of his live weight . Male beetles have the highest levels of the toxin and transfer cantharidin to the females during copulation.
Hi Stanislav! Project Noah does not encourage the collection of specimen. Thanks for your understanding.
It is very interesting Mylabris. I could get a few samples of this beetle for my collection?
standa@meloidae.com
Keith you must be right with Blister beetle.. They are furious on shrub flowers here in India nowadays...!!
With the large abdomens and them appearing to feed on flowers, I'd say Blister beetles.
I think they may be a kind of Clerid beetle, like the Trichodes apiarus here..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichodes_a...
..although I couldn't put my finger on a specific species. Very unusual colouring. Beautiful though.
Spotted on Aug 14, 2011
Submitted on Aug 17, 2011
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