Hycleus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hycleus |
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| Hycleus species in the phaleratus group | |
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Hycleus
Latreille, 1817
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Hycleus is a group of interesting beetles known as blister beetles. These beetles belong to the Meloidae family. You can find them in parts of Africa and Asia.
There are more than 400 different kinds, or species, of Hycleus beetles. For a long time, people sometimes confused them with another group of beetles called Mylabris.
Contents
What Do Hycleus Beetles Eat?
Adult Hycleus beetles mostly eat flowers. They can feed on flowers from many different types of plants.
The Life Cycle of Hycleus Beetles
The first stage of a Hycleus beetle's life after hatching is a tiny, active larva. This larva is called a "triungulin." These young larvae are helpful because they hunt and eat soft insects, like aphids. Aphids are small pests that can harm plants.
Are Hycleus Beetles Helpful or Harmful?
When they are young larvae, Hycleus beetles can be good for crops. They help by eating other insects that might damage plants. However, adult Hycleus beetles can sometimes cause problems.
If there are too many adult beetles, they can eat a lot of flowers. This can lead to plants producing less fruit or seeds. This is especially true for some legume crops, like beans or peas. Luckily, farmers can easily control these beetles by collecting them by hand.
In northern Nigeria, for example, large numbers of Hycleus terminatus, Hycleus fimbriatus, Hycleus hermanniae, and Hycleus chevrolati have sometimes damaged early plantings of pearl millet crops.
Gallery
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Seen in Karnataka
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Orange Blister Beetle, Ransai, Maharashtra
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See also
In Spanish: Hycleus para niños
