field collection in nahavand county (hamedan province, iran) revealed 9 blister beetle (col: meloidae) species from three different tribes of subfamily meloinae. in tribe mylabrini, mylabris impressa chevrolat 1837, mylabris schreibersi reiche 1865, mylabris variabilis (pallas, 1781), mylabris guerini chevrolat 1837, lydoceras bilineatus thomas 1897 and croscherichia spp. pardo alcaide identifi...

the meloidae, known as blister beetles, a widespread family of tenebrionoidea that includes approximately 2500 species, is still scarcely known faunistically in several areas of the world. because of specific biogeographical feature, iran harbors a rich diversity of meloids and due to the lack of basic and integrated studies, particularly in eastern parts of iran, our current knowledge of irani...

DEAR EDITOR Blister beetle dermatitis is an irritant contact dermatitis, caused when beetles of the genus Paederus are crushed on the skin, releasing the vesicant pederin. It is also known as Dermatitis Linearis or Paedrous Dermatitis. It is characterized by the presence of erythematous and edematous lesions, pain and burning sensation, blisters, pustules and kissing lesions. Though blister bee...

background: in order to study the biology of mylabris impressa stillata , which little is known about, a laboratory colony was established. methods: in this descriptive study, the laboratory colony was collected from toyserkan county in hamedan province, iran. to feed the larval instars, a parallel colony of the grasshopper, schistocerca gregaria was set-up. meloid females lived for several mon...

Exotic tree pathogens can cause devastating ecological effects on forests that can be exacerbated when infections increase the likelihood of attack by insects. Current high rates of mortality of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) are due to white pine blister rust caused by the exotic fungus, Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch, and the native mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hop...

Drought and mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreaks have affected millions of hectares of high-elevation conifer forests in the Northern Rocky Mountains during the past century. Little research has examined the distinction between mountain pine beetle outbreaks and climatic influence on radial growth in endangered whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) ecosystems. We...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Beetles of the family Meloidae (blister beetles) are often reported in pharmacological literature because of their content of cantharidin. Cantharidin has a long history in human medicine and was commonly applied in the 19th and the early 20th centuries, although its use has been progressively abandoned since then. Contrary to most, even common, large species of C...

VOLUME 74, NOVEMBER 2004 285 Blister beetles (Figure) are the source for commercial preparations of cantharidin. Many blister beetle species exist, and many have not been studied extensively. Much of what we know about blister beetles is extrapolated from studies of a few species. In some blister beetles, such as Epicauta funebris, cantharidin has been identified in all 10 life stages and accum...