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Olisthaerus substriatus
This uncommon beetle is found under bark of dead conifers across Canada and parts of the northern US. This one was under loose bark on a dead black spruce tree that was on the ground.
Spotted on Apr 29, 2014
Submitted on Apr 30, 2014
7 Comments
Karen, that's great info and thanks for choosing this for facebook. Weevils (Curculionidae) used to be considered the largest family of beetles until Scydmaenidae was reduced to a subfamily and lumped in the Staphylinidae.
Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Wasps) also have huge numbers and are possibly the largest animal family in the world with estimates of 60,000 to 100,000 species. http://bugguide.net/node/view/150
Fun fact! Although rarely seen, rove beetles (Staphylinidae) are currently recognized as the largest family of beetles, with approximately 58,000 species in thousands of genera.. This ancient group, which dates back to the Triassic period, 200 million years ago, can be found in almost every type of habitat that beetles occur in. Their diets are equally diverse; Most rove beetles are predators of insects and other kinds of invertebrates but some species have adapted to live in ant and termite colonies, and some have developed mutualistic relationships with mammals, benefitting their hosts by eating fleas and other parasites. A few species parasitize other insects, particularly certain fly pupae.
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Nice one Fyn! Yours is the first one on BugGuide from Maine!
Here is mine; http://bugguide.net/node/view/914982
Great find! I had one a couple days ago to under pine bark.
Bill, there's plenty of rove beetles with red elytra (wing covers), but very few that have this much red. BugGuide only has 4 submissions of this species, and this is my second one I found. http://bugguide.net/node/view/108424/bgi...
Wow! I've never seen a red rove beetle before. Very cool!