mə̇ˈlōəˌdē, -lȯiˌ- noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Meloe, type genus + -idae
: a widely distributed family of moderate-sized usually rather soft-bodied cylindrical beetles that exhibit a complex hypermetamorphosis during development, are often defoliators as adults, and include some whose larvae are beneficial predators on other insects — see blister beetle , meloe