Subject: Shiny blue 3-segmented in Hungary
Location: Southern Hungary
June 19, 2017 10:59 pm
Hello,
I have recently moved to Hungary and am enjoying exploring and identifying some of the bug life with my children. I was unable to ID this one.
It is quite shiny, almost metallic in the sun. It appears to have 3 segments.
My initial thought was some sort of Cuckoo Wasp but it’s so large, and honestly looks more like an ant. I found 3 of them in a day. Each was alone, all in soft soil alongside a walking path in a deciduous forest. Sometime in mid April.
Signature: Moineaux
Dear Moineaux,
This is a Blister Beetle in the genus Meloe, and they are commonly called Oil Beetles. Several species are pictured on the Hungarian Natural History Museum site.