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Verodes guatemalensis
Mud colored, lumpy, rock-like looking beetle of the Family Zopheridae. It plays dead for as long as 10 minutes to keep from being noticed. When it fell to the ground, it took me an hour to find it! And....it is so hard, nothing could eat it anyway! About 2 cm long.
On the ground, in the mud and debris under an ivy ground cover. Semi-urban area on the outskirts of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico 2,200 meters.
Spotted on Jan 8, 2013
Submitted on Jan 10, 2013
18 Comments
Thank you! I changed the generic name.
Latest news: Species has been renamed as
= Verodes guatemalensis (Champion, 1884)
(The type species of Nosoderma was different than believed)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication...
Thank you thaptor. Was that your thesis?
I had a paper with which ID was possible - it is a genus next to Phloeodes.
= Nosoderma guatemalensis Champion, 1884
(known from Chiapas, and figured in https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/b...)
Thank you thaptor. Do you think this is Phloeodes plicatus?
This is not a Darkling, but: Zopheridae / Zopherinae sp.
Yes Argy, you are right. Since it is a Teneb, it should be called a Darkling Beetle. Thanks. I changed the common name.
Argy Bee
Do you know the difference between Tenebrionedae and Carabidae
Argy Bee
Do you know the difference between Tenebrionedae and Cerambycidae ?
Hi Lauren. If this is ground beetle should it not be carabidae instead of tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) ?
Thank you Emilie and Keith...
Awesome spotting!
Very interesting!
Thank you Luis, Argy, Gerardo and Lenny.
I like this one.Good find.Patience is a virtue.
Nice series Lauren !
A very unappealing meal for others.
Great find Lauren, it loks like rock with legs.