Blister beetle by cfulton

Photography • Insects • posted on Jun 14, 2011

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Description

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. Wikipedia Enjoy the day! Clive

Comments (20)

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auntietk

1:28AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

No need to blend in with your surroundings when you're that toxic! This guy stands out beautifully. Excellent capture!

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jayfar

1:29AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Super capture Clive.

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Feliciti

1:29AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

fantastic details !!

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ia-du-lin

1:47AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

wonderful foto, great details, nice insect

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micturn

2:11AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

nice!

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durleybeachbum

2:22AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

What a natty dresser, and your composition is sublime!

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kgb224

2:55AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Stunning capture Clive.

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awjay

3:10AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

nice team strip

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fallen21

3:24AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Beautiful capture.

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prutzworks

3:32AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

nice macro with cool colorcontrasts

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qrud

6:03AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Colourful,lovely.

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SIGMAWORLD

7:03AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Sehr schöne Makro-Aufnahme!

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bmac62

8:46AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Fine macro Clive...he'll get no trouble from me:)

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Faemike55

10:58AM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Wonderful macro! I ain't gonna bug him

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jophoto

12:11PM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Good shot!

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Blush

2:55PM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Great image Awesome details Love that flower's color Hugs Susan~

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moochagoo

3:23PM | Tue, 14 June 2011

Wow, great details and colors

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soxu

10:57AM | Wed, 15 June 2011

what a beautiful image!love the colors and the contrast with the color of the insect thanks for the info

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MrsRatbag

1:26PM | Wed, 15 June 2011

Fantastic shot, Clive; they just keep getting better and better!

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praep

11:59PM | Tue, 21 June 2011

Very nice beetle and shot - Cantharidin is a strong poison I remember, but it will be used as an aphrodisiac sometimes. Quotation from Wikipedia about the medical use: "Diluted solutions of cantharidin can be used as a topical medication to remove warts[2] and tattoos and to treat the small papules of Molluscum contagiosum." The whole article there.