As Bologna notes, it had long been known that the larval development of the red-stripted oil beetle was very different from that of most species placed in Meloe, so that some authors treated it within the Lyttini genus Trichomeloe.

[2] revived the name insignis, which had been thought to be merely a synonym for majalis, to describe a rare, distinct population endemic to the Spanish provinces of Granada, Almería and Murcia.

Individuals of this type differed from typical B. majalis in several anatomical characteristics, and hence García-Paris argued that they should be given species status and should also be placed in Berberomeloe.

The genus Berberomeloe is endemic to the Western Mediterranean, specifically the Iberian Peninsula, France, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The coloration in the species Berberomeloe majalis (Linnaeus, 1758) is characterized by the presence of bright blood-red or orange transverse stripes across a solid black swollen abdomen (the length of this beetle may reach up to 9 centimetres (3.5 in)).