Goldenrod round gall residents (goldenrod parasitoid fauna) - Mordellistena

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Tumbling Flower Beetles (Mordellidae) » Mordellistenini » Mordellistena

Photo#296498

Copyright © 2009 Beatriz Moisset

Goldenrod round gall residents (goldenrod parasitoid fauna) - Mordellistena

Horsham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA
June 29, 2009
Size: 3 mm

It came out of one of the goldenrod galls I collected last winter. Picture taken 6/29/09, adults are presumably around this time of the year.
It is considered a parasite or parasitoid of goldenrod round galls. Interestingly I found one of these mordellids in the container of oval galls. I didn't realize that they also could infest that type of galls.
For more info on this and other residents of goldenrod galls go to Parasite and predator page and related links in Eurosta info page. Oh, and don't miss the video.
It emerged from one of these galls

Probably this is the larva of this species, found inside a similar gall as shown above

More on Goldenrod Gall Fauna

Southeastern PA

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Goldenrod round gall residents (goldenrod parasitoid fauna) - Mordellistena

Goldenrod gall residents - Mordellistena

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Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 30 June, 2009 - 10:13am
Last updated 31 December, 2018 - 4:47pm

Moved

Moved from Mordellistena convicta.

… Beatriz Moisset, 12 December, 2011 - 10:36am

determination?

how was this beetle determined as M. convicta? Initially, I have some doubts. It would be nice to see a dorsal image, as convicta has a rather strong pattern on the elytra (see Tom's more recent posts). Also the front, middle legs, and basal antenna segments should be pale / lighter, as also seen on Tom's beetle.

… Tim Moyer, 10 December, 2011 - 11:23pm

Thanks

I will move it back to genus, then. It probably came from some info on goldenrod gall mordellids, but maybe there is more than one species in these galls.
I added two images of another specimen from the same group of galls. Does it help?

… Beatriz Moisset, 11 December, 2011 - 10:30am

sorry,

can't see the elytra well enough on this one to tell if the convicta pattern is there or not. But the fore/mid legs are dark. The second one looks like it might have some pattern, but really can't tell. If you still have any of these beetles, I'd be happy to take a closer look. And perhaps I ought to wonder out back and look for a few galls myself :)

… Tim Moyer, 11 December, 2011 - 10:48pm

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