Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Longhorn and Leaf Beetles (Chrysomeloidea) » Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) » Case-bearing Leaf Beetles (Cryptocephalinae) » Cryptocephalini » Cryptocephalina » Cryptocephalus » Tinctus group (Cryptocephalus Tinctus group) » Cryptocephalus tinctus
Photo#86190
Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus - female
Copyright © 2006 Jim McClarin

Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus - Female
Hudson, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA
November 1, 2006
Size: about 3.5 mm
I wonder what the depression in the pre-anal ventrite is all about. Could it be a muscle attachment point that is deflexed under strain?

Images of this individual: tag all
Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus - female Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus - female Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus Cryptocephaline? - Cryptocephalus tinctus - female
Contributed by Jim McClarin on 6 November, 2006 - 8:17pm
Last updated 24 January, 2010 - 10:08am

This depression is indicative
This depression is indicative of female Crypocephalini/Clytrini and is used along with the hind legs to hold the ovum while the female constructs the egg case out of flattened pieces of feces.
… John Randall Watts, 30 August, 2008 - 4:10pm

 
Wow!
So the larva starts life inside a case built by the mother? Does it keep this case and just keep adding to it with its own feces?
… Jim McClarin, 31 August, 2008 - 6:27am

Moved
Moved from Cryptocephalini.
… Mike Quinn, 20 June, 2007 - 12:43pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo