Genus Mezium

beetle? that looks like a tiny eggplant - Mezium affine

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

Superfamily Bostrichoidea

Family Ptinidae (Death-watch and Spider Beetles)

Subfamily Ptininae (Spider Beetles)

Tribe Meziini

Genus Mezium

Explanation of Names

Mezium Curtis 1828

Numbers

2 species in NA; only M. affine in Canada(1), a dozen total

Size

3-4 mm

Identification

Elytra fused, globular, very glabrous; unlike in Gibbium, pronotum with furry pubescence and ridges

Range

Almost cosmopolitan nowadays, but probably African in origin. In Canada, NS to SK; BC(1)

Works Cited

1.	Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide Bousquet Y. 1990. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1837.

Contributed by john and jane balaban on 27 November, 2006 - 1:55pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche, v belov
Last updated 13 October, 2019 - 8:01am

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