Black Oil Beetle
(Meloe proscarabaeus)

Quick Facts

1. Does not spray hot liquid, but releases a toxic yellowish oily liquid from their joints.

2. Its young ride on bees, a behavior known as phoresy.

3. Larvae live underground, but they emerge during adulthood.

Why This Tiny Insect Matters

The Black Oil Beetle reveals just how strange and inventive insect life can be. Slow-moving and heavy-bodied as an adult, it begins life with a very different strategy: its young hitch a ride on bees to reach the resources they need to survive. It is a striking example of how even threatened species can carry extraordinary stories hidden beneath an unfamiliar appearance.

Meet the Black Oil Beetle

• Conservation status: Threatened

• Endemic: No

• Habitat: Grasslands, meadows, field edges, and open habitats across much of Europe

• Ecological role: Part of the wider ecological web, with a life cycle closely linked to wild bees

• Lifespan: Lives through egg, several larval stages, pupa, and adult stages

• Fun fact: The first-stage larvae wait on flowers and attach themselves to visiting bees, which carry them to the bee’s nest.

Explore more

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