Blister beetle

Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin.

The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families as the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae.

[1] Cantharidin, a poisonous chemical that causes blistering of the skin, is secreted as a defensive agent.

Cantharidin is the principal irritant in "Spanish fly", a folk medicine prepared from dried beetles in the family Meloidae.

The oldest fossil of the group is a larva (triangulin) found phoretic on a schizopterid bug from the mid Cretaceous Burmese amber, dated to around 99 million years ago.

at Mumbai
Ivy bee ( Colletes hederae ), carrying parasitic triungulins of Stenoria analis
Female margined blister beetle pursued by multiple males.
Black blister beetle, Epicauta pennsylvanica (Meloinae: Epicautini)
Cysteodemus armatus near Ridgecrest, California in the Mojave Desert : The white coating is cuticular wax, which can vary from white to yellow in this species [1] .
Blister beetles like this Lytta vesicatoria (Meloinae: Lyttini) can be safely handled, provided the animal is not startled, and allowed to move around freely. Otherwise, painful poisonings may occur.
Meloe violaceus (Meloinae: Meloini): Note the drop of dark orange defensive fluid on its thorax .
Mylabris quadripunctata (Meloinae: Mylabrini)
A yellow-and-black species of Actenodia , one of many known in South Africa as " CMR beetle"
Horia sp. from Bannerghatta ( Bangalore )
Sitaris muralis (Nemognathinae: Sitarini)