Violet oil beetle
The violet oil beetle is a big, soft beetle that shines dark blue and violet. Its wing cases are much shorter than its fat tummy. Its babies are tiny hitchhikers that ride on bees to find food.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Violet oil beetle compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
A mother digs a hole in the soil and lays a huge number of eggs, from about 2,000 to 10,000.
The larvae climb up grass or flowers and wait to grab onto a passing bee.
If a larva grabs a honey bee by mistake, it dies in the hive and can harm the bees there.
In a bee's nest, the larva first eats the bee's egg, then grows bigger and eats the honey and pollen.
It changes shape more times than most beetles, with several very different kinds of larva on the way.
Most asked questions about Violet oil beetle
?How big is the violet oil beetle?
It is about 1 to 3 centimetres long. Females are a bit bigger than males.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Meloe violaceus
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Meloidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Meloidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Meloe violaceus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
Stag beetle
Hercules beetle
Common glow-worm
Goliath beetle
Cockchafer
Mealworm beetle
Mexican bean beetle
Duke of Burgundy
Hairy-footed flower bee
Fiery skipper
Carrot fly
Speckled bush-cricket