862 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 27, 1672. 
VESICATING INSECTS. 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A. 
(Continued from page 823.) 
X. Asiatic and American Meloeidje. 
The single Asiatic Meloe , of which we have any 
record as an acknowledged vesicant, is the Indian 
Meloe trianthema. Another species has had some 
reputation in North America, whilst we have memo¬ 
randa of four that are used in South America. These 
are all that we are aware of that have enjoyed any 
repute in ultra-European countries. 
Doab Blister-fly, Meloe trianthema;, Flem.; an¬ 
tennae moniliform, tapering upwards, black; head 
gibbous, broader than the thorax, inflected, black, 
minutely punctured; thorax ovate, rounded, shining 
black, with a steel-blue gloss, minutely punctured; 
wings length of the elytra, brown, transparent; ab¬ 
domen, sides of a vivid orange-red, with a line of 
small black dots, one on each segment; the dorsal 
line and rest of the body nearly of a Prussian blue; 
legs black, the tibia terminated with two slender 
spines, the tarsi of the hinder legs three-jointed, the 
rest four-jointed. The female is nearly twice the 
size of the male.—Fleming, Catalogue Ind. Drugs, 
p. 59, 8vo, Calcutta, 1810. 
This fly Dr. Fleming says he believes for medical 
purposes to be fully equal to the Telini fly ( Mglabris 
eichorii). “ We are indebted for the knowledge of it,” 
lie says, “ to Dr. Adam Burt, who discovered it in 
the fields around Muttra, when he was superintend¬ 
ing surgeon of that station in 1809. It abounds in 
every part of the Doab, and in the districts on the 
right bank of the Jumna, which is fortunate, as the 
other species (M. eichorii) is less frequently met 
with in that quarter of the country. The insect 
appears early in the rainy season. It is seldom seen 
on the wing, but generally running on the ground, 
particularly in fields overrun with the common plant 
Trianthema decandra, called by the natives Bis-copra, 
which probably furnishes it with nourishment, though 
it is sometimes observed feeding on the flowers of 
Solanum melongena. The orange-red colour of the 
abdomen, with the black dot on the segments, form 
a good discriminative specific character.” 
Dr. Burt having discovered the property which 
this insect possesses of being a safe and efficacious 
epispastic, recommended it as a substitute for the 
Spanish blistering-fly, and by his meritorious exer¬ 
tions, the use of it has been introduced in all the 
hospitals of the upper provinces. Fleming also adds 
that during August and September a supply of this 
insect was gathered sufficient to serve the two medi¬ 
cal depots of Agra and Cawnpore for twelve months. 
Narrow-necked Oil-beetle, Meloe angusticollis, I 
Say; thorax narrower than the 1 
head ; elytra and abdomen vio- j 
laceous.—Say, Entomology, iii. 
p. 106; Harris, Insects injurious 
to Vegetation (1802), p. 140, fig. 
05. 
Body dark violaceous, punc¬ 
tured. Head with very deep punc- 
tures, an impressed, longitudinal, 
abbreviated, acute, frontal line ; 
and a transverse, elevated, ob¬ 
tuse one connecting the bases of 
Fig. 21.— Meloe an - the antenme ; thorax slender, 
gusticollis. narrower than the head, pro-! 
foundly punctured, widest rather before the middle, 
and narrowed at tip and base. Base emarginate, 
and slightly margined. Elytra rugulose, dark bluish 
violaceous. Feet slightly heavy, spines of the tibia 
and nails ferruginous. Abdomen slightly rugulose, 
dark greenish, or violaceous; tergum each side 
black, opaque. 
Inhabits Pennsylvania. 
Fig. 22 .—Meloe angusticollis, 
male. 
Fig. 23.—Active larva 
of Meloe. 
Fig. 25.—Third larva Fig. 26.—Pupa form 
form of Meloe. of Meloe. 
The remarks of Dr. Packard on this species will 
serve to illustrate the Meloeidce generally, and ex¬ 
plain the changes they undergo :— 
“ The Oil-beetle, Meloe angusticollis, Say (fig. 22, 
male, differing from the female by having the an¬ 
tennae as if twisted into a knot; fig. 2-3, the active 
larva found on the body of the bee), is a large dark 
blue insect found crawling in the grass in the vici¬ 
nity of the nests of Andrena and Halictus and other 
wild bees in May, and again in August and Septem¬ 
ber. The eggs are laid in a mass covered with earth 
at the root of some plant. During April and early 
in May, when the willows are in blossom, we have 
found the young recently hatched larvae in consider¬ 
able abundance, creeping briskly over the bees, or 
with their heads plunged between the segments of 
the body, greedily sucking in the juices of their 
host. Those that we saw occurred on the humble- 
bee (Halictus and Andrena), and various flies {Syr- 
