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TaxonomyBrowse
Info
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Genus Platydema

Platydema Found Again - Platydema elliptica Coleoptera - Platydema ruficornis Platydema ruficorne? - Platydema ruficornis unknown beetle - Platydema micans Platydema ruficorne - Platydema ruficornis Platydema - Platydema flavipes Platydema - Platydema oregonensis - female Platydema
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Tenebrionoidea
Family Tenebrionidae (Darkling Beetles)
Subfamily Diaperinae
Tribe Diaperini
Subtribe Diaperina
Genus Platydema
Explanation of Names
Platydema LaPorte & Brullé 1831
Greek, 'flat breast'
Numbers
the largest genus of the tribe, with 20 spp. in our area and ~300 spp. worldwide(1)(2) (P. sexnotata is a recent addition)
Size
our spp. 3.2-8 mm(2)
Identification
Keys/guides to spp. in(2)(3)(4)(5)*
*9 spp. illustrated in color, incl. P. americana and P. teleops not included in (3)
Range
most diverse around the tropics, meagerly represented in the Holarctic Region(2)
Habitat
under bark, on fungi on rotting wood; come to lights
See Also
Gondwanocrypticus
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Revision of Diaperini of American north of Mexico with notes on extralimital species (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
Triplehorn, C.A. 1965. Proceedings of the United States National Museum No. 3515, 117: 349-458.
3.The Darkling Beetles of Florida and Eastern United States
4.Tenebrionidae of Wisconsin
5.Tenebrionoidea of South Carolina
Janet C. Ciegler. 2014. Clemson University.