Merimna

{{short description|Genus of beetles}}

{{italic title}}

{{Taxobox

| name = Merimna atrata

| image = Merimna atrata (40075688301).jpg

| image_caption =

| regnum = Animalia

| phylum = Arthropoda

| classis = Insecta

| ordo = Coleoptera

| subordo = Polyphaga

| superfamilia = Buprestoidea

| familia = Buprestidae

| subfamilia = Buprestinae

| tribus = Melanophilini

| genus = Merimna

| genus_authority = Saunders, 1868

| species = M. atrata

| binomial = Merimna atrata

| binomial_authority = (Gory & Laporte, 1837)

}}

Merimna atrata is a species of beetle in the family Buprestidae, family Buprestinae, tribe Melanophilini and is the only species in the genus Merimna.{{cite web |url=https://cerambycids.com/Buprestidae/WorldCat/Genera/Merimna.htm |title=Genus Merimna |author=Bellamy, C. L. |date=2013 |work=A Checklist of World Buprestoidea |accessdate=7 Sep 2021}}{{Cite web |title=Genus Merimna |url=https://inaturalist.lu/taxa/706507-Merimna |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=iNaturalist Luxembourg |language=en}} It is native to Australia. It is a pyrophilic species, preferentially laying its eggs in recently burned wood. Its body has infrared sensors which allows it to avoid landing on burning hot surfaces.{{Cite journal |last=Hinz |first=Marcel |last2=Klein |first2=Adrian |last3=Schmitz |first3=Anke |last4=Schmitz |first4=Helmut |date=2018-02-12 |title=The impact of infrared radiation in flight control in the Australian “firebeetle” Merimna atrata |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192865 |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=e0192865 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0192865 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=5809089 |pmid=29432476 |doi-access=free}}