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TaxonomyBrowse
Info
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Species Pelonides quadripunctata

4-spotted Checkered Beetle - Pelonides quadripunctata - female Four-spotted Checkered Beetle Pelonides quadripunctatus - Pelonides quadripunctata Beetle - Pelonides quadripunctata Pelonides quadripunctata (Say) - Pelonides quadripunctata - female Checkered - Pelonides quadripunctata red beetle - Pelonides quadripunctata Pelonides quadripunctata Pelonides quadripunctata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cleroidea (Bark-gnawing, Checkered and Soft-winged Flower Beetles)
Family Cleridae (Checkered Beetles)
Subfamily Enopliinae
Genus Pelonides
Species quadripunctata (Pelonides quadripunctata)
Other Common Names
Four-spotted Checkered Beetle
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Pelonides quadripunctata (Say)
Orig. Comb: Enoplium quadripunctata Say 1823
Listed in some sources as Pelonides quadripunctatus (masculine gender).
Size
4.5–8.0 mm(1)
Identification
forebody (head+prothorax) is entirely black (individuals with any red marking on the forebody are P. quadrinotata)
Range
e US (OH-IL to KS-AL-TX)(1)(2)(3); additional BugGuide records from NC (4) (5) (6), so should be looked for in SC, GA, etc. One iNaturalist record from Maryland.
Season
Mar-May (BG data)
Food
Adults visit flowers of Pyracantha, Cornus, Crataegus, Prosopis, Prunus, Quercus
can be locally abundant in the se US: "I've seen thousands on a single Photinia tree/bush at various localities." (J. MacGown, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2017)
Life Cycle
Larvae have been reared from Black Walnut, Juglans nigra (3).
See Also
Pelonides quadrinotata (Haldeman)
- Range: TX to KS
Print References
Say, T. 1823. Descriptions of coleopterous insects collected in the late expedition to the Rocky Mountains performed by order of Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under command of Major Long. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 3(1): 9-54, 73-104, 139-216.
Internet References
Texas Entomology - Mike Quinn, 2007
Works Cited
1.Taxonomic revision of the New World genus Pelonides Kuwert (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Enopliinae)
Opitz W. 2015. Can. Entomol. 147: 501-526.
2.An Illustrated Inventory of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Lick Creek Park, College Station, Texas
Edward G. Riley. 2013. Texas A&M University, Dept. Entomology, College Station.
3.Beetles of Eastern North America
Arthur V. Evans. 2014. Princeton University Press.
4.Tiny leaf beetle
5.Pelonides quadripunctata
6.Pelonides quadripunctata