Trilobite Beetle vs Blunthorn Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Trilobite Beetle Blunthorn Bee
Scientific Name Duliticola hoiseni Melitta haemorrhoidalis
Order Coleoptera Hymenoptera
Family Lycidae Melittidae
Size 40-80 mm (females), 8-10 mm (males) 10-13 mm
Habitat Underground Underground
Diet Fungus Feeders Pollen Feeders
Regions Asia Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Data Deficient Least Concern

Trilobite Beetle

Females are large, larviform, and look strikingly like trilobites from the Paleozoic era. Males are tiny conventional-looking beetles. One of the most extreme sexual dimorphisms in insects.

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Did You Know?

Females of this beetle retain their larval form throughout life and look like extinct trilobites — males are tiny normal beetles, creating one of natures most extreme sex differences.

Blunthorn Bee

A late-summer specialist bee that collects pollen almost exclusively from bellflowers. It has a distinctively short tongue for a melittid bee.

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Did You Know?

Females often become completely dusted in blue bellflower pollen, giving them a striking violet-tinged appearance.