Biology:Leichenum canaliculatum

Short description: Species of beetle

Leichenum canaliculatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Superfamily:	Tenebrionoidea
Family:	Tenebrionidae
Subfamily:	Tenebrioninae
Genus:	Leichenum
Species:	L. canaliculatum
Binomial name
Leichenum canaliculatum (Fabricius 1798)
Trinomial name
Leichenum canaliculatum variegatum (Klug, 1833)
Synonyms
Opatrum canaliculatum Fabricius, 1798 Opatrum canaliculatum variegatum Klug, 1833 Leichenum pulchellum Küster, 1849 Leichenum variegatum Küster, 1849 Leichenum argillaceum Motschulsky, 1863 Lichenum foveistrium Marseul, 1876 Lichenum seriehispidum Marseul, 1876 Lichenum gebieni Reitter, 1906 Endothina squamosa Carter, 1924

Leichenum canaliculatum, commonly known as Madagascar beetle, is a species of darkling beetle.

Distribution

The species can be found in several Africa, Asian and Oceania countries including: Australia, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Cuba, France, Gambia, Guadeloupe, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also introduced to USA and can be found in many coastal areas.

Description

Adult is oval with an average length of 5 mm. The body is grayish with black, gray, brown mottling. A whitish spatula-shaped, scaly setae present. Eyes are globose and slightly emarginated. Antennae short with a clearly defined 4-segmented club on the apical half. The length of the mature larva is 12 mm. In the pupa, the urogomphi are fused into a long spine-like process and the tip ends in two small round lobes. Pupa is about 6 mm in length.

Biology

Adults are easily attracted to light traps as well as both baited or unbaited pitfall traps. It is commonly found in sandy areas, along beaches, lakes and river shorelines. The highest aggregations are recorded from March to November. Adults usually hide under small piles of leaf litter in sand depressions. Both adult and larva are known to feed on roots of Bermuda grass, cotton, turnips and rutabagas. Larva also observed to feed on nap of rugs, and associated with damaged peach trees and Amaryllis bulbs.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q107570851 entry