Meloe violaceus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Meloe violaceus, the violet oil beetle, is a species of oil beetle belonging to the family Meloidae subfamily Meloinae. This beetle is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, in the Near East, and in North Africa.
This species is characterised by hypermetamorphosis, a kind of complete insect metamorphosis in which, in addition to the normal stages of larva, nymph and imago, they have several others, with great differences in appearance and way of life.
The body of Meloe violaceus is 10–30 millimetres (0.4–1.2 in) long, females are somewhat larger than the males. These beetle are black-blue or violet-blue, head and pronotum are very finely dotted and the elytra are quite shorter than the abdomen, as in other Meloinae species.
The adults live on a sunny, dry area with flowering plants, feeding on pollen. In May–June the female digs into the soil 20–30 millimetres (0.8–1.2 in) deep cylindrical holes, where they lay a very large quantity of eggs (about 2,000–10,000).
After about a month larvae emerge from eggs and climb up on grass or on flowers, waiting to cling to the thorax of approaching potential host insects seeking pollen or nectar. The larvae have an exclusively parasitic life, primarily in the nests of solitary bees, or sometimes of locusts. If the larvae have inadvertently selected a honey bee, they die in the hive and may cause serious damage.
When the host female bee lays eggs in its cells, the first-stage larva of the violet oil beetle eats the eggs of the bee, increases in volume and becomes the second-stage larva, which continues its development eating honey and pollen. The larva, after other two stages, forms the nymph and finally the imago. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 2 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Violet Oil Beetle sighting in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 248th most-seen of the 1115 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Violet Oil Beetle in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Violet Oil Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Violet Oil Beetle sightings, Bavarian Forest National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Pyrénées National Park (France, about 10%) and Cairngorms National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same order: Coleoptera
The closest relatives of the Violet Oil Beetle that you can see in Bavarian Forest National Park (order Coleoptera, Beetles) are Asian Lady Beetle (about 30%), Woodland Dor Beetle (about 30%) and Mediterranean Spotted Chafer (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Violet Oil Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Bavarian Forest National Park (20 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
