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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae) » Diaperinae » Diaperini » Diaperina » Platydema

Genus Platydema

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · See Also · Works Cited
Darkling beetle (Platydema ?) - Platydema micans Platydema americanum - Platydema americana beetles - Platydema excavatum Tiny Horned Beetle - Platydema excavatum Platydema sp.? - Platydema laevipes unknown beetle - Platydema oregonense Platydema flavipes Eustrophopsis? - Platydema nigratum
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. sexnotatum 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. americanum 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.
Contributed by Stephen_WV on 23 December, 2004 - 4:30pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Bbarnd, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 24 June, 2023 - 5:50pm

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