Meloe violaceus Marsham (Fig.1) is one of three oil beetles recorded in Scotland. M. brevicollis Panzer is extremely restricted in range in Britain. In Scotland a population was found on the Argyll island of Coll (VC 103) in 2009 (Alexander, Dodd & Denton, 2014), and a strong population was found at one site on Barra (VC 110) in June 2021 (Bruce Taylor, pers. comm.). Both M. violaceus and M. proscarabaeus Linnaeus have been recorded more widely in Scotland but, at least in the north of Scotland, records have been subject to misidentification and confusion. This paper is intended to clarify the current situation in the north of Scotland by analysis of data held by the Highland Biological Recording Group (HBRG), and to describe what is known of the biology of M. violaceus in the Highland Local Authority Area covering vice-counties 96, 97, 104-109 and parts of 95 and 98.
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