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Anthia duodecimguttata
A rather large (4 cm) fast running carnivorous beetle.
sandy desert
Spotted on Apr 6, 2019
Submitted on Apr 14, 2019
3 Comments
Wow, what a beautiful insect! Congrats on the SOTD :)
Congratulations Ori on this wonderful SOTD! A very apt name which, of course, reminds of playing dominoes when I was younger. Thank you for sharing the first of this species, I have now heard about it :)
Congratulations Ori, this stunning beetle is our Spotting of the Day! It is also a first for this species on Project Noah.
"One ground beetle to be taken seriously, this Domino Beetle (Anthia duodecimguttata) is our Spotting of the Day! Ground beetles (family (Carabidae) are known for their unusual defense mechanisms, involving the production of noxious or even caustic secretions. Members of the Anthiinae subfamily can even can squirt their defensive secretions at would-be predators for considerable distances and with great accuracy. Severals species in the genus Anthia are named for their number of dorsal spots; you can count twelve white spots of various size on the elytra of A. duodecimguttata".
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