{"id":4237,"date":"2012-02-21T12:03:50","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T18:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=4237"},"modified":"2017-05-20T15:18:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-20T20:18:00","slug":"soft-winged-flower-beetle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/","title":{"rendered":"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salutations, BugFans,<\/p>\n

The BugLady had never heard of soft-winged flower beetles until she found these little guys with striped abdomens climbing around on prairie plants last summer, and she was happy to find another bunch of predators to admire. North America accounts for 500-plus species of often-strikingly-colored, slightly-hairy beetles in the family Melyridae (including a few that range almost to the Arctic Circle and there are more species throughout the world).<\/p>\n

[metaslider id=4238]<\/p>\n

Omnivorous adult Melyrids are often found on flowers out in the open, where they eat pollen, insect eggs, and flower-loving insects that land within their grasp. The larvae generally stay concealed under tree bark or leaf litter or soil, where they prey on other invertebrates.<\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong> What attribute does some distant cousin Melyrids from the South Pacific share with poison dart frogs and, surprisingly, with a few species of birds in their New Guinea neighborhoods?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> BTX, or batrachotoxins—potent heart and nerve toxins that strongly discourage predators. These strange bedfellows are believed to ingest toxins in something they eat and then secrete them. BTX is present in the skin and feathers of the birds that entertain it, and Melyrid beetles are probably their toxin\/food source.<\/p>\n

Attalus terminalis<\/em><\/h3>\n

Attalus terminalis<\/em>, which apparently doesn\u2019t have a common name other than the generic \u201cSoft-winged flower beetle,\u201d has a pretty ambitious genus name to live up to. It seems to be named after Attalus<\/em>, one of a line of Greek rulers, soldiers, embroiderers, gardeners and botanists (sometimes simultaneously), mostly in the BCs. What an interesting bunch to name a half-inch beetle after!<\/p>\n

The BugLady found ATs mentioned in transactions from various early entomological meetings including Kansas (1883–4), Philadelphia (1897—the Mount Washington list) and Wisconsin (1909). We do stand on the shoulders of the folks who walked before us. According to one source, ATs are found at the edges, where field meets forest. They are also on a list called \u201cRare or uncommon prairie-dependent insects known from or likely to be present in the proposed southwest Wisconsin Grassland and Stream Conservation area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scarlet Malachite Beetle<\/h3>\n

The Scarlet Malachite Beetle (Malachus aenus<\/em>), a much flashier member of the Melyridae family, can be seen on flowers in grasslands across the northern tier of the U.S. and southern tier of Canada. Accidentally or on purpose, it seems to have been introduced to North America at some time from somewhere in Eurasia. As one blogger points out, since they\u2019re not crop pests, there\u2019s not a lot of information out there about them. The BugLady did find reference to some SMB damage of young wheat in Canada which would seem to be at odds with their carnivorous reputation, though the SMB seems to lean more heavily toward pollen consumption than does AT.<\/p>\n

\"scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In England, SMBs are on bug-lovers\u2019 Most Wanted Lists. BugLife<\/em>, the voice of the British Invertebrate Trust Fund, once named the SMB \u201cBug of the Month\u201d and spearheads the \u201cScarlet Malachite Beetle Project\u201d to raise public awareness. British on-line posts are divided between \u201cPlease report sightings of this rare beetle\u201d and \u201cRare beetle spotted in Something-shire.\u201d One theory is that it lays its eggs in thatched roofs, so people with thatched roofs are asked to be on the lookout for it (don\u2019t snicker—a well-thatched roof lasts for 60 to 70 years and uses up a whole lot of Phragmites in the process). SMBs used to be common there, but now they are threatened with extirpation from Britain (completely gone from Britain but not extinct elsewhere).<\/p>\n

Though SMBs are armed with Mother Nature\u2019s warning colors, the BugLady didn\u2019t find anything to indicate that they are toxic or distasteful.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe BugLady<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Soft-winged Flower Beetle<\/strong> are often found on flowers out in the open, where they eat pollen, insect eggs, and flower-loving insects that land within their grasp. The larvae generally stay concealed under tree bark or leaf litter or soil, where they prey on other invertebrates. North America accounts for 500-plus species of often-strikingly-colored, slightly-hairy beetles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-4237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bug-of-the-week","tag-beetles"],"yoast_head":"\nField Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Soft-winged Flower Beetle are often found on flowers out in the open, where they eat pollen, insect eggs, and flower-loving insects that land within their grasp. The larvae generally stay concealed under tree bark or leaf litter or soil, where they prey on other invertebrates. North America accounts for 500-plus species of often-strikingly-colored, slightly-hairy beetles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Field Station\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":620,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Beetles\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bug of the Week\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/\",\"name\":\"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae) - Field Station\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/380\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bug of the Week\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/category\\\/bug-of-the-week\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/\",\"name\":\"Field Station\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/field-station\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Field Station","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)","og_description":"The Soft-winged Flower Beetle are often found on flowers out in the open, where they eat pollen, insect eggs, and flower-loving insects that land within their grasp. The larvae generally stay concealed under tree bark or leaf litter or soil, where they prey on other invertebrates. North America accounts for 500-plus species of often-strikingly-colored, slightly-hairy beetles.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/","og_site_name":"Field Station","article_published_time":"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)","datePublished":"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/"},"wordCount":620,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg","keywords":["Beetles"],"articleSection":["Bug of the Week"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/","name":"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae) - Field Station","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg","datePublished":"2012-02-21T18:03:50+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-20T20:18:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2012\/02\/scrlt-malachite-btle10-1b.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/soft-winged-flower-beetle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bug of the Week","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/category\/bug-of-the-week\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Soft-winged Flower Beetle (Family Melyridae)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/","name":"Field Station","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1495311375:28"],"_edit_last":["28"],"_wp_old_slug":["soft-winged-flower-beetle-family-melyridae"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":[""],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:10:50\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 12:56:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4237"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8101,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions\/8101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}