Purpuricenus humeralis - Green Ridge State Forest, 39.6655, -78.4628, Allegany County, Maryland, USA June 22, 1985 Size: 16 mm
This beetle was collected a very long time ago on a Maryland Entomological Society field trip. I was in high school at the time and even though several decades have since passed, I still remember seeing this beetle flying down Piclic Road near 15 Mile Creek in the bright sunlight as if it were yesterday! There was a group of butterfly collectors talking to a forest ranger nearby and they were all most impressed as they had never seen anything like it before.
Around this same time, the late Dr. John Glaser (BugGuide ID "JDG") was finding these beetles to be actually quite common in Maryland, but seldom encountered as they generally fly at tree-top level. He collected large numbers of Purpuricenus beetles using fermenting sugar baits. I believe those specimens proved to be very useful to Ted MacRae who subsequently discovered there were three, rather than two species in the East and Central United States. That was a rather amazing insight given that the new species he discovered (i.e., the beetles formerly named Purpuricenus axillaris were separated into P. axillaris and P. paraxillaris) occurs just miles from the Smithsonian/USNM but had gone unnoticed for over 100 years by many prominent entomologist working in the area!
My local public library had a copy of "How To Know The Beetles" by H. E. Jacques (1951) and this is his description of this species (available on archive.org): "Purpuricensus humeralis (Fab.) (14795) 14-18 mm. in length, is fairly common in our Central and Eastern States and Canada. It is robust, dull velvety black with a large triangular scarlet spot on the humerus of each elytron. The thorax has a small spine on each side. It is a beetle any collector will prize. The larvae develop in oak and hickory; the adults are found on mid-summer roadside flowers."
Contributed by Frank Guarnieri on 16 January, 2021 - 11:20am Last updated 11 April, 2021 - 9:04pm |