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Large Rove Beetles (Staphylininae)
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Dinothenarus
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subgenus Parabemus (Dinothenarus subgenus Parabemus)
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Dinothenarus saphyrinus
Photo#163070
Copyright © 2007
Will Chatfield-Taylor
Rove Beetle -
Dinothenarus saphyrinus
Bannister Park, Sacramento County, California, USA
December 27, 2007
Size: 15mm
I have no idea. It's large, metallic blue and green and pretty. Hopefully that will be distinctive enough. Thanks for the help!
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Contributed by
Will Chatfield-Taylor
on 30 December, 2007 - 12:00am
Last updated 17 February, 2020 - 7:19am
Moved
Moved from
Dinothenarus luteipes
.
Read with
this
for reasoning.
…
Boris Büche
, 17 February, 2020 - 7:19am
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taxonomy updates
Platydracus tarsalis (Mannerheim, 1843) [Staphylinus]
= submetallicus LeConte /
MCZ type
Platydracus rutilicauda (Horn, 1879) [Staphylinus]
MCZ type
; live images on
iNaturalist
Platydracus sepulchralis (Erichson 1839) [Staphylinus]
seen here
…
Boris Büche
, 17 February, 2020 - 6:12am
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Moved
Moved from
Rove Beetles
. Al Newton IDs this as
Dinothenarus luteipes
, which he says is similar to the more widespread
D. saphyrinus
.
…
Margaret Thayer
, 23 October, 2010 - 6:35pm
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Moved
Moved from
Dinothenarus saphyrinus
.
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 22 August, 2010 - 6:48pm
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I vote Dinotherus
I've got an identical-looking specimen that I collected also from California, which I keyed out to Dinotherus using Arnett's American beetle guide, in case that helps.
…
Dana Terry
, 2 February, 2008 - 6:05pm
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More comments
California Beetles Project lists this as Dinothenarus saphyrinus, the MCZ Database at Harvard lists it as Platydracus saphyrinus, Nearctica lists Staphylinus saphyrinus (definitely out of date), which should we file this under?
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 1 January, 2008 - 10:00pm
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Dinothenarus saphyrinus
There's a reason I found so many and it looked so familiar! Originally Staphylinus saphyrinus LeConte 1861, this species is now Dinothenarus saphyrinus and is very common in California. As for color, it looks purple under a desk lamp, I don't know why it showed up as green in the photo, something about the flash, goes to show you have to be careful about color in metallic species like this, something I would do well to remember!
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 1 January, 2008 - 1:43am
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Photos found
of P.tarsalis under a
synonymic name
, and of
P.rutilicauda
. I am somewhat reluctant to state the latter is the same as yours, because the smooth midline on the pronotum (very obvious in your beetle) is lacking in the type specimen. But fits well otherwise . . .
…
Boris Büche
, 31 December, 2007 - 5:49am
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Pronotum
The pronotum doesn't looks right in terms of shape either. The anterior margin is somewhat concave in the type specimen photo. Between that and the lack of the ridge, I'm guessing it is definitely not P. rutillicauda. It is also not P. cinnamopterus. It's also interesting that Nearctica, while out of date, doesn't even list Staphylinus sepulchralis. I've also not been able to find any info as to a description of this species or any photos after considerable work. It's kind of odd, the species that it most resembles is Staphylinus saphyrinus.
http://insects.oeb.harvard.edu/MCZ/FMPro?-DB=Image.fm&-Lay=web&-Format=images.htm&Species_ID=6278&-Find
Is it possible that the California beetle Project misidentified or mis-labeled this? P. tarsalis is similar, but the pronotum is shorter with a pointed posterior margin, unlike this specimen. I've spent an hour or two now working on this, but I'm stumped!
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 1 January, 2008 - 1:37am
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Safe to say
Probably safe to say it's not P. tarsalis, the colors look wrong, though I don't know if color is a reliable character in Rove Beetles. P. rutillicauda looks good except for that pronotal groove. The only one left is P. sepulchralis, but all attempts to find it have been unsuccessful. I tracked down the name and it was originally "Staphylinus sepulchralis (Erichson 1839)" So it's not a recent split. I also can't find a description of the species either
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 31 December, 2007 - 1:05pm
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Platydracus
This is such a distinctive beetle. With the six exposed abdominal segments, I'm pretty sure it is in Staphylininae. I want to get this further than that though. I know a Rove Beetle person came here briefly, I wonder if he'll stop again (nudge nudge) Thanks for the help
The ONLY thing I can find, with the right shape, dimensions and gestalt appears to be something Platydracus. SBMNH lists 4 species of Platydracus in California. It's not P. cinnamopterus, P. tarsalis has lots of records collected from all over, but I can't find photos of them
…
Will Chatfield-Taylor
, 31 December, 2007 - 1:48am
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