Oedemeridae

Common name:

False blister beetles

Number of species:

10

Size Range:

5-17mm

Tarsi:

5-5-4. Lobed.

Images:

  • Ischnomera caerulea
  • Ischnomera cyanea
  • Nacerdes melanura
  • Oedemera femoralis
  • Oedemera lurida
  • Oedemera virescens

Description: 

A family with 10 British representatives, 5-17mm long, many of which are shining metallic blue-green in colour.  The soft, flexible elytra do not meet all the way along the midline, but diverge as each tapers independently to its apex, although this varies from scarely noticeable, as in Ischnomera spp., to diverging close behind the scutellum, as in Oedemera nobilis (Scopoli).

Oedemera lurida (Marsham) and O. nobilis develop as larvae in the stems of herbaceous plants, and can be highly abundant in grassland as adults, particularly on flowers.  Oedemera femoralis (Fabricius) is a locally-distributed large, pale brown, nocturnal species formerly in genus Oncomera, which can be found on ivy blossom or at light between April and September.  The Ischnomera caerulea of older literature is actually a complex of three species: I. caerulea sensu strictu (L.), I. cinerascens Pandellé, and the relatively widespread I. cyanea (Fabricius), which are best split by dissection.