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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Series Elateriformia » Soft-bodied Plant and Cicada Parasite Beetles (Dascilloidea) » Cicada Parasite Beetles (Rhipiceridae) » Sandalus

Genus Sandalus

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited
Beetle with antlers - Sandalus niger - male Porch floor beetle - Sandalus petrophya Deathwatch Beetle ( Ptilinus basalis) - Sandalus niger - male Sandalus niger Knoch - Sandalus niger - male Human Habitation 2 - Sandalus niger A Sandalus Trio - Sandalus niger - male - female A Sandalus Trio - Sandalus niger - female Sandalus - S. randyi? - Sandalus randyi - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)
Superfamily Dascilloidea (Soft-bodied Plant and Cicada Parasite Beetles)
Family Rhipiceridae (Cicada Parasite Beetles)
Genus Sandalus
Other Common Names
Cedar Beetles, Cicada Parasite Beetles(1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
genus under revision
Explanation of Names
Sandalus Knoch 1801
Numbers
5 spp. in our area, 25 total(1)
Size
♂ 17-20 mm, ♀ 22-25 mm(1)
Identification
antennae flabellate in males, serrate in females(1)
key to eastern spp. in (2)
Range
New World, E & S Asia, Africa(1)
Season
usually later in the season
Food
Adults reportedly do not feed, though a recent captive report suggests they may feed on certain plant leaves... Larvae are ectoparasitoids of nymphal cicadas(1)
Life Cycle
hypermetamorphosis(1); ~17,000 eggs has been recorded from a single female S. niger (Rings 1942)
Remarks
come to lights; infrequently found but may be seen in large numbers during the day, indicating pheromone involvement(1)
One day in late September near Bloomington, IN, 12 specimens were collected on trunks or in flight in 1 hour, where none were during previous years: the beetles likely parasitized the brood of periodical cicadas which had emerged the previous year.(3)
Print References
Craighead F.C. (1921) Larva of the North American beetle Sandalus niger Knoch. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 23: 44-48.
Rings R.W. (1942) The external anatomy of Sandalus niger Knoch (Coleoptera: Rhipiceridae). Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 35: 411-425.
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.A new species of Sandalus Knoch (Coleoptera: Rhipiceridae), with an updated key to the species of the Eastern USA
Schnepp K.E., Powell G.S. 2018. Col. Bull. 72: 241-245.
3.Peterson Field Guides: Beetles
Richard E. White. 1983. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Contributed by Cotinis on 3 October, 2005 - 12:51pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, v belov, Hisserdude, Tyler Hedlund
Last updated 31 March, 2023 - 5:24pm

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