bluish beetle - Melanophila

Moved

Moved from Melanophila notata.

… Robin McLeod, 8 May, 2007 - 12:01am

Melanophila notata

Moved from Metallic Wood-boring Beetles to new species page.

… Robin McLeod, 3 May, 2007 - 5:17pm

Yes, Buprestidae...

... a species of Melanophila (either M. acuminata or M. notata).

… Ted C. MacRae, 2 May, 2007 - 11:37pm

Thanks, Ted

That narrows it down greatly.

This page shows only those 2 species of Melanophila in Florida. M. notata (which has spotted and unspotted forms) has been recorded in 10 counties, including Collier County, whereas the presence of M. acuminata in Florida is described as "highly unlikely" by Charles Bellamy, so I guess notata wins by default in this case.

… Robin McLeod, 3 May, 2007 - 5:23pm

Not so fast...

Another possibility is M. atropurpurea, which I have reared from cypress at Okefenokee Swamp. Many past records of M. acuminata and M. notata actually refer to this species - Rick Westcott is trying to clear up things. The photo doesn't show the surface sculpture and elytral apices well enough to make an ID - I think you'll need to leave it at Melanophila sp. for now.

… Ted C. MacRae, 7 May, 2007 - 4:43pm

Okay, thanks Ted.

Do you have more info on the characters that differentiate atropurpurea from acuminata? A PDF doc here treats the two species as synonymous, so I suspect they're difficult to distinguish.

I'm thinking it would be helpful to have info such as this on the species and genus pages for future reference.

… Robin McLeod, 8 May, 2007 - 12:13am

In the material I have on hand...

...the elytral apices of M. atropurpurea are produced into a distinct, acuminate tooth - those of M. acuminata are acutely angled but not distinctly produced. Also, the lateral pronotal reticulations of M. atropurpurea form distinct longitudinal patterns - those of M. acuminata do not.

M. notata usually exhibits yellow elytral markings, but immaculate individuals do occur - they can be distinguished from the usually immaculate M. acuminata and M. atropurpurea by their narrowly rounded elytral apices and more coarsely granulate elytral surface sculpture.

… Ted C. MacRae, 14 May, 2007 - 10:45am

very good, thanks

I've added some notes to the M. notata page.

… Robin McLeod, 16 May, 2007 - 11:45pm

consensus

Okay, thanks; moved from ID Request to Buprestidae for now.

… Robin McLeod, 15 April, 2007 - 1:31pm

Definitely not your average beetle

I don't really know what this is... maybe Buprespidae... Pretty sure it's not a Carabid, Tenebrionid, Cerambycid, Cantharid... or any of the more common families.. the abdomen shape and the shape of the elytra look like that of Buprespid

… Will Chatfield-Taylor, 13 April, 2007 - 12:41am

I agree, Buprespid....

I mean BupresTid:-) I have occasionally (rarely) found bups at lights, so I'm not entirely surprised....

… Eric R. Eaton, 13 April, 2007 - 3:27pm