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Photo#166438
Micromalthidae Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis

Micromalthidae Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis
nr. Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, USA
Size: 1 mm
Besides being tiny, these are very soft-bodied. This specimen was critical-point dried to keep it from shriveling but that treatment caused the wings to inflate and the elytra to spring open.

Once again
Great job! These are really cool beetles

....
How tiny is tiny ?

 
Tiny
A millimeter or so.

 
Nice!
Then that makes this an even more awesome pic! Very cool!

 
Yes.
Very nice images of a strange creature. I suppose it is only a matter of time before they become 'wireless' and start boring in cell phones....:-)

 
Makes you believe in the possibility
that Stresiptera branched off somewhere close to Coleoptera

 
*
Indeed, recently (2010) Beutel et al published a phylogeny of the Holometabola, in which Strepsiptera fell out within the beetles. I have the paper in PDF form, but I don't have a link to it. Let me know if you want to see it.

Micromalthids are remarkable!

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