Seasonal Activity of Meloe americanus (Coleoptera: Meloidae) in a Mississippi Old-field Habitat

Adults and triugulin larvae of Meloe americanus Leach were collected by pitfall trapping and sweepnetting of foliage during 14 consecutive months at an old-field site in Washington Co., MS. Adults were captured in pitfalls from December to April, and triungulins were captured in pitfalls and attached to Apoidae (Hymenoptera) hosts on foliage only from April to May and from September through October. Several scenarios are proposed to explain this unusual pattern of disjunct triungulin seasonal occurrence. Spatial patterns of adult and triungulin occurrence are correlated with successional changes in the habitat, and attachment sites of triungulin larvae on Apoidae hosts are documented.