Blister Beetle
Eleticinae
Meloinae
Nemognathinae
Tetraonycinae
Blister beetles are beetles (Coleoptera) of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. There are approximately 7,500 known species worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators.
Read more about Blister Beetle: Description, Toxicity
Famous quotes containing the word beetle:
“The sense of death is most in apprehension,
And the poor beetle that we tread upon
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)