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Photo#597335
A red head with a square thorax and black elytra - Helluomorphoides nigripennis

A red head with a square thorax and black elytra - Helluomorphoides nigripennis
Worcester County, Maryland, USA
May 18, 2011
Size: about 1cm
Seen on the leaflet of a lupine, I at first thought it was a clover stem borer (Langura mozardii) because of the similar size and color. Now that I look at the picture, I see the antennae, head and pronotum are all colored right but shaped wrong, It's funny because I photographed a clover stem borer in the same patch of lupines 12 minutes earlier. This beetle looks a little more like this one but the texture of the elytra is quite wrong. Are the elytra too short because this is a juvenile? I'm trying to learn what all these insects are doing on the lupines. Help me if you will!

Habitat
I neglected to record the habitat. It was a rather extensive pine forest, actually a loblolly pine plantation that had been harvested a few decades prior. The specific area had very dry, sandy soil. The insect was a few feet from the forest edge.

Moved

Can't help with the ID, but...
...I can tell you that it is certainly not a juvenile. Any insect with wings is an adult. Immature beetles are grublike or wormlike larvae.

Moved
Moved from Beetles. H. nigripennis I suppose, but I'm not familiar with this genus. Hopefully Peter will comment.

 
Yes, consistent with "Helluomorphoides nigripennis",
based on image + location + size.

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