Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#163070
Rove Beetle - Dinothenarus saphyrinus

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!

Moved
Moved from Dinothenarus luteipes.

Read with this for reasoning.

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

Moved
Moved from Rove Beetles. Al Newton IDs this as Dinothenarus luteipes, which he says is similar to the more widespread D. saphyrinus.

Moved

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.

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the MCZ Database at Harvard lists it as Platydracus saphyrinus, Nearctica lists Staphylinus saphyrinus (definitely out of date), which should we file this under?

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!

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 . . .

 
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!

 
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

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

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.