Blister beetle
（重定向自Meloidae）
![](/Images/godic/202501/26/Hycleus_lugens,_Meloidae2737.jpg")
![Black Blister Beetle, Epicauta pennsylvanica (Meloinae: Epicautini)](/Images/godic/202501/26/Black_blister_beetle2737.jpg")
![Cysteodemus armatus near Amboy Crater, Mojave Desert, California. Yellow color is flower pollen.](/Images/godic/202501/26/Cysteodemus_armatus0316112737.jpg")
![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.](/Images/godic/202501/26/Green_insect_on_hand2737.jpg")
Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators.