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#16856
Horned Passalus Mating - Odontotaenius disjunctus - male - female

Horned Passalus Mating - Odontotaenius disjunctus - Male Female
Horton's Pond, Chatham County, North Carolina, USA
May 7, 2005
Size: 30-35 mm
I uncoverd this mating pair in a rotting log. I photographed the pair adjacent to a scale--not shown. I believe the female is the smaller, slightly trimmer, individual on the left (about 30 mm) and the male is the more robust individual on the right (about 35 mm). Other photos show the heads. The presumed female has a thinner horn than the presumed male. (I've uncovered other what I thought were pairs of these before, just not while they were mating. I've seen similar subtle differences in morphology.)

Images of this individual: tag all
Horned Passalus Mating - Odontotaenius disjunctus - male - female Horned Passalus - Odontotaenius disjunctus - female Horned Passalus - Odontotaenius disjunctus - male

Nice Photo
Nice photo, and glad you were able to document what I suspect isn't documented often.

I see this family, like Fireflies, mate tail to tail and facing in opposite directions—unlike, say, Chrysomelids and Cerambycids. Are there other families among the Beetles that folks are aware of that mate like the Fireflies and the Bess Bugs?

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

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