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Genus Pasimachus

unidentified beetle - Pasimachus Pasimachus californicus Chaudoir - Pasimachus californicus Pasimachus punctulatus vs Pasimachus depressus  - Pasimachus - male Pasimachus sublaevis Garage Beetle - Pasimachus New Jersey Beetle - Pasimachus depressus Pasimachus californicus? - Pasimachus californicus Pasimachus sp? - Pasimachus elongatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Adephaga
Family Carabidae (Ground Beetles)
Subfamily Scaritinae
Tribe Pasimachini
Genus Pasimachus
Explanation of Names
Pasimachus Bonelli 1813
'total fighter'
Numbers
11 spp. in 3 species-groups (all in the nominotypical subgenus) in our area, 32 spp. in 4 subgenera total(1)
Size
21-40 mm
Identification
keys to spp. in(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)
A common difficulty is telling apart the sympatric P. depressus vs P. elongatus. The former is much more robust/broad, most with body length ≥ 28 mm vs ≤ 26 mm for most "elongatus". The most reliable external feature is the shape of the prosternal process (conical vs roundish). In P. elongatus, the male metatibia with tuft of golden hairs in distal third (lacking in male depressus)
Range
North and Middle America; in our area, most diverse in the south, with just one sp. (P. elongatus) reaching Canada (MB-AB)(1)
Habitat
Typically, leaf litter in forests
Food
caterpillars, other larval insects
Remarks
The etymology of Pasimachus: "Probably from the Greek pasi (the whole, all, very, by extension universal) and machetes (warrior, fighter) contracted [masculine]." (GBIF)
In addition, note that Pasimachus was a Dorian cavalry commander of the Peloponnesian War mentioned in Xenophon's Hellenica.
See Also
Lucanidae (easily distinguished by their geniculate clubbed antennae)