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Calendar
BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
Details...
 
Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Genus Sandalus

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Dascilloidea (Soft-bodied Plant and Cicada Parasite Beetles)
Family Rhipiceridae (Cicada Parasite Beetles)
Genus Sandalus
Explanation of Names
Author of genus is Knoch, 1801.
Numbers
Five species:
Sandalus californicus LeConte 1861 - California
Sandalus cribricollis Van Dyke 1923 - Southwestern US
Sandalus niger Knoch 1801 - Canada, Eastern US south to at least South Carolina (not recorded from Florida)
Sandalus petrophya Knoch 1801 - Eastern US (including Florida)
Sandalus porosus LeConte 1868 - Florida to Texas
Size
12-24 mm, 21-24 mm (S. niger)
Identification
Females of S. niger are black, males of this species are red or black.
Range
Sandalus niger is found in eastern United States.
Season
Late summer to early fall. October-December (S. niger, North Carolina).
Print References
Arnett et al. pp. 186-187, fig. 453--Sandalus niger (2)
Brimley, p. 164, lists S. niger for North Carolina, describes females as black, males as red or black. (3)
Salsbury, p. 188, photo of male Sandalus niger (4)
Internet References
Beetles of Florida lists two species for that state: Sandalus petrophya and S. porosus.
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists one species for that state, Sandalus niger, 47 pinned. (S. petrophya also listed, but with no specimens from that state.)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Beetles
By Richard E. White
2.How to Know the Beetles
By Ross H. Arnett, N. M. Downie, H. E. Jaques
3.Insects of North Carolina
By C.S. Brimley
4.Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White