Information: Meloe nanus was described by Lucas in 1846.
Medium-sized (7.5–12.5 mm); body integument dull and matte, black, blackish-grey or blackish-brown in color, with the tips of the appendages chestnut-colored; body pilosity very short and yellowish; head large, with the temples rounded and slightly broadened, and a weakly marked median longitudinal line extending from the clypeo-frontal suture to the vertex; eyes relatively large and rounded; antennae elongated and slender, with 11 antennomeres, antennomeres 3 to 11 more than twice as long as wide; punctation of the head fine and shallow; pronotum subtrapezoidal, with sides slightly diverging posteriorly and anterior angles rounded, featuring a well-marked median longitudinal groove and a broad central depression; punctation of the pronotum similar to that of the head, though somewhat finer; elytra convex and slightly rugose, with sparse pilosity; abdomen with yellowish hairs evenly distributed; legs elongated and slender.
Meloe nanus is a rare species with a wide southern Mediterranean distribution, from the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula to all of North Africa and the East, with records from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Palestine.
The species has been confused on several occasions with Meloe (E.) baudueri Grenier, 1863 and with Meloe (E.) murinus Brandt & Erichson, 1832. Very similar to M. murinus; however, easily distinguishable by the simply rounded lateral margins of the pronotum.
Body length: 7 - 13 mm
Peak activity: November - January, March
Remarks: The habitat occupied by the species is mainly xerophilous, and its populations are found in semi-arid steppe areas, even semi-desert, both in eastern Spain (Andalusia) and in the remaining populations of its worldwide distribution.
The adults of Meloe nanus are crepuscular and nocturnal in activity, typically spending the day under stones (sublapidicolous) (Bologna, 1991; García-París, 2001; pers. obs.). They are phytophagous and possibly polyphagous, feeding on low-growing herbaceous plant species (Bologna, 1991), although their trophic preferences remain unknown. This is a univoltine species, with imaginal phenology centered around late autumn and winter, specifically the months of November (pers. obs.), December, January, February (Bologna, 1988, 1991; Sánchez-Piñero, pers. comm.), and early March (Ruiz et al., 1994). According to Bologna (1991), oviposition likely occurs during this time of year.
Distribution: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Portugal, Syria, Spain, Tunisia
Zoogeographic region: Palearctic
Taxonomic classification:
Meloe (Eurymeloe) nanus Lucas, 1846 | male & female
Material examined (& observation):
Spain 
Andalusia
Cádiz Province
Pinar de la Algaida [Pinar de la Colonia Monte Algaida]
5km N Sanlúcar de Barrameda
(GPS) 
Altitude 20 m a.s.l. |
Our observation period: December 
Sampling Methods: in grassy vegetation 
Spain
