Belongs within: Meloidae.
Meloe, oil beetles, is a genus of flightless beetles with reduced elytra that overlap at their base. The genus is primarily Holarctic in distribution with a smaller number of species in Africa and adjoining Oriental regions (Bologna & Pinto 2002).
Characters (from Bologna & Pinto 2002): Head completely dark in colour; frontal suture subangulate. Antennal segments V–X not subdentate, XI never notched. Maxillary palpi four-segmented, segment I short, three segments easily visible. Pronotum not as above, usually uniformly dark in colour, sides rarely red. Wingless; elytra reduced but extending past base of abdominal tergum II, overlapping at base and unicolorous, usually dark, rarely metallic green. Tarsal claws with dorsal blade smooth, ventral blade of normal shape. Abdominal terga entirely black.
<==Meloe Linnaeus 1758 (see below for synonymy)BP02 |--*M. (Meloe) proscarabaeus Linnaeus 1758BP02 (see below for synonymy) |--M. (Afromeloe Schmidt 1913) [incl. Submeloegonius Pliginskij 1935 (nom. inv.)]BP02 | |--M. (*A.) angulatus Leach 1815BP02 | `--M. (A.) adisabebae [=Submeloegonius adisabebae]BP02 |--M. (Alveomeloe Prispinova 1987)BP02 | `--M. (*A.) tadzhikistanicus Prispinova 1987BP02 |--M. (Chiromeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (*C.) nigropilosellus Reitter 1900BP02 |--M. (Coeloemeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (*C.) tuccius Rossi 1792BP02 [incl. M. tuccius var. corrosus Brandt & Erichson 1832G-PR05] |--M. (Desertimeloe Kaszab 1964)BP02 | `--M. (*D.) centripubens Reitter 1897BP02 |--M. (Eurymeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | |--M. (*E.) brevicollis Panzer 1793BP02 | |--M. (E.) mediterraneus Müller 1925 (see below for synonymy)G-PR05 | `--M. (E.) rugosus Marsham 1802G-PR05 |--M. (Lampromeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | |--M. (*L.) variegatus Donovan 1793BP02, B14 | `--M. (L.) cavensis Petagna 1819B14, G-PR05 (see below for synonymy) |--M. (Lasiomeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (*L.) olivieri Chevrolat 1833BP02 |--M. (Listromeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (*L.) hungarus Schrank 1776BP02 [incl. M. limbatus Fabricius 1801G-PR05, M. limbata (l. c.)G-PR05] |--M. (Meloegonius Reitter 1911)G-PR05 | `--M. (*M.) cicatricosus Leach 1815BP02 (see below for synonymy) |--M. (Meloenellus Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (*M.) nigropuberulus Reitter 1890BP02 |--M. (Mesomeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (M.) xanthomelas Solsky 1881 [incl. M. sulcicollis Kraatz 1882, M. (*M.) sulcicollis]BP02 |--M. (Micromeloe Reitter 1911) [incl. Trapezimeloe Pliginskij 1935]BP02 | |--M. (*M.) uralensis Pallas 1773BP02 | `--M. (M.) conradti Heyden 1888 [=M. (*Trapezimeloe) conradti]BP02 |--M. (Taphromeloe Reitter 1911)BP02 | `--M. (T.) erythrocnemusBP02 `--M. (Treiodous Dugès 1869) [incl. Anchomeloe Iablokoff-Khnzorian 1983]BP02 |--M. (T.) laevis Leach 1815 [incl. *Treiodous barranci Dugès 1869]BP02 `--M. (T.) autumnalis Olivier 1792BP02, G-RP05 (see below for synonymy) Meloe incertae sedis: M. affinis Lucas 1846E12 ‘*Triungulinus’ andrenatarum Dufour 1828BP02 M. apenninicus Bologna 1988BP02 M. baudueri Grenier 1863G-PR05 M. californicus [incl. M. quadricollis]P72 M. impressus Kirby 1837BP02 M. marginatus Risso 1826R26 M. murinus Brandt & Erichson 1832G-PR05 M. nana Lucas 1846E12 M. plicatipennis Lucas 1846E12 M. reitteriC01 M. rugulosus Brullé 1832G-PR05 M. violaceus Marsham 1802 [incl. Pediculus melittae Kirby 1802, *Melittophagus melittae]BP02 M. vlasovi Semenov-Tian Shansky & Arnoldi 1937BP02
Meloe Linnaeus 1758 [=Cnestocera Thomson 1859, Proscarabaeus Schrank 1781; incl. Melittophagus Kirby 1818, Triungulinus Dufour 1828]BP02
Meloe (Eurymeloe) mediterraneus Müller 1925 [incl. M. rugosus var. abdominalis Escherich 1890, M. barcinonella Cuní Martorell 1876, M. pullus Hoffm. in Amor Mayor 1860 (n. n.)]G-PR05
Meloe (Lampromeloe) cavensis Petagna 1819B14, G-PR05 [incl. M. aeneus Laporte de Castelnau 1840G-PR05, M. latreilleiG-PR05, M. purpurascens Germar 1834G-PR05]
*Meloe (Meloe) proscarabaeus Linnaeus 1758BP02 [=*Cnestocera proscarabaeusBP02, *Proscarabaeus proscarabaeusBP02; incl. M. tecta Panzer 1793G-PR05]
Meloe (*Meloegonius) cicatricosus Leach 1815BP02 [incl. M. iluronensis Salvañá Comas 1870G-PR05, M. ineditus Salvañá Comas 1870G-PR05, M. punctatoradiatus Latreille 1804G-PR05]
Meloe (Treiodous) autumnalis Olivier 1792BP02, G-PR05 [incl. M. cyaneus Fabricius 1801G-PR05, M. autumnalis var. hiemalis Gredler 1866G-PR05]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BP02] Bologna, M. A., & J. D. Pinto. 2002. The Old World genera of Meloidae (Coleoptera): a key and synopsis. Journal of Natural History 36 (17): 2013–2102.
[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).
[C01] Csiki, E. 1901. Utivázlat [Reiseskizze]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. xii–xli. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.
[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.
[G-PR05] García-París, M. & J. L. Ruiz. 2005. Bibliografía y registros Ibero-Baleares de Meloidae (Coleoptera) publicados hasta la aparición del “Catálogo sistemático geográfico de los coleópteros observados en la Península Ibérica, Pirineos propiamente dichos y Baleares” de J. M. de la Fuente (1933). Graellsia 61 (2): 225–255.
[P72] Pinto, J. D. 1972. New synonymy in the genus Meloe (Coleoptera: Meloidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 48 (4): 278–279.
[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.