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Photo#372314
Stenomorpha mckittricki - female

Stenomorpha mckittricki - Female
McKittrick, Kern County, California, USA
February 17, 2009
Close to sunset I photographed this beetle, near the shoulder of the road.
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Great pictures Hartmut! I'm g
Great pictures Hartmut! I'm glad you were able to find them. From the shape of the elytra it looks like this one might be a female. Did you check to see?

 
Thanks to you, Dennis -
Re. gender of this beetle: I thought that the 5th sternite was a bit more pointed (f.), more rounded in some of the others (m.). I don't know how reliable this is, short of pulling genitalia.
Do you have some trick for this?

 
I did the genitalia pull. I d
I did the genitalia pull. I don't see any significant difference between the 5th sternites of male and female. What I do see are that the elytra are more parallel sided, tarsi longer, and antennal club larger (m); elytra arcuate at the sides, shorter tarsi, and smaller antennal club (f).

 
Thanks for the information, Dennis -
I still have a couple of these, so I'll know eventually.
Would you believe, I couldn't find any Erodium this morning, though I just saw oodles of it a few days ago in the Santa Susanas.
I just gathered some pygmy weed (Crassula connata), and they appear to like it.
P.S. funny - plenty of Erodium cicutarium a few steps from my house...
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Lucky you!
I wish I were never able to find Erodium, wherever I wander in the west :-)

 
Except for Erodium texanum -
Alas, I don't have that near my house.

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