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July 10-12, 2009
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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Click, Firefly and Soldier Beetles (Elateroidea) » Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae) » Cantharinae » Podabrus

Genus Podabrus

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Some kind of soldier beetle? - Podabrus tomentosus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Elateroidea (Click, Firefly and Soldier Beetles)

Family Cantharidae (Soldier Beetles)

Subfamily Cantharinae

Genus Podabrus

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Podabrus Westwood, 1838

Explanation of Names

From Greek pod foot, plus abro delicate (1).

Numbers

Nearctica.com lists 110 species

49 species in Canada & Alaska (PDF doc - Soldier Beetles of Canada & Alaska)

Identification

Dillon and Dillon (2) give the following characters for the genus:

head elongated and narrowed behind eyes to form a distinct "neck"

head not covered by pronotum

apical (front) margin on pronotum truncated

seventh ventral segment (abdomen) of male truncated at apex, eighth segment exposed

tarsal claws with a long, acute tooth

Food

Found on foliage, adults likely prey on aphids, other insects (3).

Remarks

Likely mimics of Lampyridae and/or Lycidae, e.g., Podabrus rugosulus:

or Bombardier Beetles, e.g., Podabrus pruinosus:

Print References

Borror, entries for pod, abr (1)

Dillon, pp. 256, 258, plates 26, 27 (2)

Sikes, p. 158, lists 5 species for Rhode Island (3).

Works Cited

1.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms By Donald J. Borror

2.	A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America By Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence

3.	The Beetle Fauna of Rhode Island, an Annotated Checklist By Derek Sikes

Contributed by Cotinis on 2 January, 2005 - 6:48pm
Additional contributions by Robin McLeod
Last updated 4 July, 2009 - 8:35am

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