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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Wedge-shaped Beetles (Ripiphoridae) » Pelecotominae » Pelecotoma » Pelecotoma flavipes
Photo#124100
Wedge-shaped Beetle - Pelecotoma flavipes - male
Copyright © 2007 Stephen Luk

Wedge-shaped Beetle - Pelecotoma flavipes - Male
Richmond Hill, York Region, Ontario, Canada
June 30, 2007
Size: 5 mm
Several of these very skittish little insects were on a fallen, mainly barkless tree trunk in a forest. Note: This image has been rotated 90°CW - he(?) was in a crevice running along the trunk.
I recall having seen images of these slender beetles, likely in a beetle guide but possibly also in BugGuide. I've browsed many pages but have failed to find a match, so I'm dying to get an ID for this little stranger.
Can anybody give it an ID, please?
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Contributed by Stephen Luk on 3 July, 2007 - 11:15pm
Last updated 12 July, 2007 - 7:02am

Moved
Moved from Beetles.
… Boris Büche, 12 July, 2007 - 7:02am login or register to post comments

RARE find!
. . . like all species from this family (Rhipiphoridae).

This is a male Pelecotoma flavipes (single nearctic species of the genus), very similar to the European P.fennica, which is a parasitoid of Ptilinus (Anobiidae) larvae.
Your observation may indicate, that mode of life is the same in the nearctic species. Have you observed Ptilinus there?
… Boris Büche, 4 July, 2007 - 1:15am login or register to post comments

 
Found!
I've finally found some Ptilinus (will post soon), but have yet to observe Pelecotoma this summer. They seem to have a very short emergence period.
… Stephen Luk, 27 June, 2008 - 3:32pm login or register to post comments

 
Wow,
These must be locally common ... I counted at least six at once along a single trunk. I haven't observed any Ptilinus yet, but now that I have an idea of what to look for, I will hunt for these during my next visit to that forest (soon). So, stay tuned for host species!
And thank you very much for the ID, Boris - I did look through the Rhipiphoridae pages, but this one just looked so different!
… Stephen Luk, 4 July, 2007 - 11:13am login or register to post comments

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