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Genus Conotelus

Conotelus? - Conotelus obscurus beetle - Conotelus obscurus Nitidulidae? - Conotelus Beetle - Conotelus obscurus beetle - Conotelus obscurus Rove Beetle - Conotelus Conotelus obscurus? - Conotelus Conotelus mexicanus? - Conotelus mexicanus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cucujoidea
No Taxon (Nitidulid series)
Family Nitidulidae (Sap-feeding Beetles)
Subfamily Cillaeinae
Genus Conotelus
Explanation of Names
Conotelus Erichson 1842
Numbers
4 spp. in our area(1), ~25 total(2)
Size
2.5-5 mm
Identification
similar to rove beetles (Staphylinidae) in shape, but antennal club typical of Nitidulidae
Key to species(2)
1. Abdomen acutely margined. Head prolonged behind the eyes. Sides of thorax posteriorly sinuate ... C. stenoides
Abdomen slightly if at all margined. Head very slightly prolonged behind the eyes. Sides of thorax not sinuate posteriorly 2
2. Pronotum not rugulose, finely granular between the punctures .... C. fuscipennis (=punctatus)
Pronotum distinctly and finely rugulose between the punctures ... 3
3. Tibiae testaceous (Rocky Mts. eastward) .... C. obscurus
Tibiae almost always piceous (sw. US & Middle America) ... C. mexicanus
Range
New World, mostly Neotropical. In our area(2)(3):
C. fuscipennis (=punctatus) FL;
C. mexicanus CA to w. TX;
C. obscurus NB-MB-CO south to GA-MS-AR;
C. stenoides NC-FL-OK-TX
Habitat
Often found in tubular flowers such as morning glory and bindweed (Convolvulaceae). Various species also found on corn, cotton, and Dianthus (Caryophyllaceae)
Food
Adults feed on pollen without damaging the flower; in so. US, C. stenoides feeds on corn, and C. obscurus feeds inside cotton blossoms
See Also
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.A revision of Neartic Nitidulidae (Coleoptera)
Parsons C.T. 1943. Bull. comp. Zool. 92: 121-278.
3. A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida.
Peck & Thomas. 1998. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 180 pp.