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Photo#351087
ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus

ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus
Webb Canyon, ~2000 ft. elevation, Los Angeles County, California, USA
May 16, 2009
Size: ~9.6 mm
Found a couple of these click beetles emerging at dusk. Unfortunately, low-light levels limited the quality of my shots. (All the photos in this series are pretty similar... I'll delete some -- or all -- if it's unidentifiable or common.) Any help narrowing down to genus would be fantastic!

Photographed on the side of a utility shed. Surrounding habitat is chaparral and mixed oak woodland.

Images of this individual: tag all
ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus ID for Elaterid in California? - Melanotus longulus

Moved Tentatively
Moved from Click Beetles.

I have been keying out some Melanotus specimens from southern CA, and the options are limited mostly to M. longulus and M. similis. I will double-check the literature when I get home or this weekend, but looking at the pronotal carinae, I think this is M. longulus.

 
Thanks, Blaine!
I really appreciate your keying efforts, especially considering this series of images is not exactly high-quality. :-) I added one more image that might show the pronotal carinae slightly better...

I look forward to hearing your final determination once you're back home and have reviewed your references!

 
Thanks...
I think I will stick with the ID...for now :)

Moved
Moved from Beetles.

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