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Photo#1334146
Carabidae, maybe Platynus   - Platynus decentis

Carabidae, maybe Platynus - Platynus decentis
Weinberg Park, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA
January 24, 2017
Found under log in wet woods on the coastal plain dominated by pines (Virginia). Thanks as always.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

I agree, definitely Platynus
Very likely Platynus decentis.

 
Thanks, Curt!
At Maryland Biodiversity Project, our only western shore record for P. decentis is your record from the SERC BugBlitz. It's also our only Platynus record for AA Co. Obviously that's probably more to do with coverage of this family than a statement about range.

If I get another chance at him, what other details would you want to see to confirm? Thanks again!

 
P decentis-
The shape and characters of the pronotum (moderately elongated, sharp hind angles, shiny, convex) along with the completely black shiny body are big hints.. the more I look at this the more certain I feel it's decentis.

I work for the National Ecological Observatory Network, and one of our sampling sites is at SERC- we've pitfall trapped carabids there for two seasons now, and the only Platynus we've caught is decentis. Platynus cincticollis, a very different species, has shown up in suspended litter-fall traps there occasionally, but never in pitfalls.

 
Thanks, Curt!
Would be great to get some field time at some point. We work closely with Rob Aguilar at SERC and are talking about at April event there. We're also doing an MBP BioBlitz at Howard County Conservancy in August if interested.

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