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Weird Click Beetle

Balgus sp.

Description:

A treasure of a Beetle, somewhat unique in that while it looks like a Jewel Beetle (Buprestidae) it is actually a squat and hairy little Click Beetle (Elateridae)! It has a color pattern of black, yellow and maroon. The last picture was taken on the window screen, but shows the design on the elytra the best. About 1 cm long. This weird little Click Beetle also lacks the clicking mechanism of most other Elaterids (Subfamily Thylacosterninae).

Habitat:

Came to an ultraviolet light. Finca Argovia, Ruta de Cafe, Soconusco area of southern Chiapas, Mexico. About 1 hour from Tapachula (Hotel Argovia Finca Resort, Km. 39 + 2, Carretera a Nueva Alemania, 30700 Tapachula de Córdova y Ordoñez, Chis., Mexico). 617 meters.

Notes:

The Subfamily Thylacosterninae is comprised of 5 genera. The genus Balgus has 9 species thus far known, this one is currently Species 1. This genus differs from all other Thylacosterninae in having tubercles on the pronotum (best seen in Picture 3). https://www.researchgate.net/publication... http://www.coleoptera-neotropical.org/pa... http://tolweb.org/Thylacosterninae/14594... http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2739...

1 Species ID Suggestions

thaptor
thaptor 7 years ago
Disputed Click beetle
Balgus sp., Thylacosterninae Balgus sp. 1


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3 Comments

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 6 years ago

thaptor; sorry you had to wait 7 months to see me go into shock!

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 6 years ago

Dear thaptor....I am in shock. I should have noticed the prolongations of the pronotum and been at least a bit suspicious. I also wish I had taken a ventral photo. I think I still have the beetle. I have been walking about in shock. You are very kind to say that this was a hard one, I don't feel quite so ridiculous. Thank you very much for the identification and once again for a humbling experience. Sorry I am so behind in catching up with your suggestions, I've been traveling and working. Thank you again.

thaptor
thaptor 7 years ago

This was a pretty difficult one!

The systematic position of Thylacosterninae is on debate. Traditionally, they were sorted in Eucnemidae, then Troscidae, now Elateridae.

They do not "click" - I have observed one species in Indonesia several times:
http://www.beetle-diversity.com/node/642...

LaurenZarate
Spotted by
LaurenZarate

Chiapas, Mexico

Spotted on Nov 19, 2015
Submitted on Mar 16, 2016

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