Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

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Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27


Genus Bledius

Representative Images

Rove beetle - Bledius Bledius mandibularis Erichson - Bledius mandibularis rove beetle - Bledius rove beetle - Bledius beetle - Bledius Bledius ferratus Bledius 2? - Bledius beetle - Bledius

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Staphyliniformia)
Superfamily Staphylinoidea
Family Staphylinidae (Rove Beetles)
Subfamily Oxytelinae (Spiny-legged Rove Beetles)
Tribe Blediini
Genus Bledius

Explanation of Names

Bledius Leach 1819

Numbers

90 spp. in our area(1), >450 worldwide(2)

Identification

see(3)(4)(5)(6)

Range

worldwide, incl. most of NA(2)

Habitat

near fresh and saline wet areas(1)

Life Cycle

Adults of at least some species harvest algae from the wet surface and store it in living chambers excavated in the mud or sand; females lay eggs and rear larvae in these special tunnels, which can be sealed during high tide or periods of high water(1)

Works Cited

1.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). 2000. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Newton A.F., Thayer M.K. Catalog of higher taxa of Staphyliniformia and genera and subgenera of Staphylinoidea [online]
3.Revision of Bledius and Related Genera: Part 1
Lee H. Herman Jr. 1972. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
4.Revision of Bledius and Related Genera Part 2
Lee H. Herman Jr. 1976. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
5.Revision of Bledius: Part 3
Lee H. Herman Jr. 1983. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
6.Revision of Bledius: Part 4
Lee H. Herman Jr. 1986. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.