abdominal short-winged flower beetle

(Heterhelus abdominalis)

Conservation Status
cut-leaved toothwort
Photo by Greg Watson
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Abdominal short-winged flower beetle is a small beetle. It occurs in the United States from New Hampshire and New York, south to Georgia, and west to Minnesota and Texas, and in southern Canada from Quebec to Manitoba. Though uncommon, it often occurs in large numbers. Adults are found in spring and summer, mostly on flowers, in a wide variety of habitats, including woodlands, wetlands, and semideserts. They are generalist feeders, feeding on the petals and pollen of a broad assortment of flowers. They are found on plants that host the larvae only during mating and egg laying. Larvae develop in seeds.

Adults are 116 to (2.0 to 3.0 mm) in length. The body is very compact, oval, and somewhat elongated when viewed from above, convex when viewed from the side. The head, the plate covering the thorax (pronotum), and the hardened wing covers (elytra) are deep metallic bluish-green, are distinctly pitted (punctate), and appear hairless.

The head is horizontal, and the mouthparts are directed forward or nearly so (prognathous). It is only weakly constricted behind the eyes. There is no transverse ridge (occipital carina) at the back of the head. The compound eyes are moderately convex and are only weakly protruding. The jaws (mandibles) are short and sharp. They are not visible from above. The “under jaws” (maxillae) located behind the mandibles, have two lobes, the galea and the lacina. The antennae have eleven segments. They are pale and are weakly clubbed. The last three segments, which form the club, are dark and are enlarged but are not extended to one side.

The pronotum is widest beyond the middle. The rear corners are angled inward. The rear margin is almost straight. The small plate between the wing bases (scutellum), is large, obvious, and curved.

The elytra are short and do not completely cover the abdomen. They are not grooved. The exposed last two segments of the abdomen are reddish.

The legs are robust and reddish. The fourth segment (tibia) of each leg has two spurs at the tip. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The claws at the end of each tarsus are simple, not split.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: 116 to (2.0 to 3.0 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

A wide variety of habitats

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Spring and summer

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

Adults are active fliers

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Seeds

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Flower petals and pollen

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82.

 
  5/15/2023      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Coleoptera (beetles)  
 

Suborder

Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles)  
 

Infraorder

Cucujiformia  
 

Superfamily

Cucujoidea (sap, bark, and fungus beetles)  
 

Family

Kateretidae (short-winged flower beetles)  
 

Genus

Heterhelus  
       
 

Family
The genus was formerly included in the family Nitidulidae (sap beetles).

Genus
This species was formerly the only species in the genus Boreades. In 1993 that genus was relegated to a subgenus of Heterhelus.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Boreades abdominalis

Cercus abdominalis

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

abdominal short-winged flower beetle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Elytra

The hardened or leathery forewings of beetles used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying. Singular: elytron.

 

Maxillae

Paired mouth structures of arthropods located immediately behind the mandible and used for tasting and manipulating food. “Under-jaws”.

 

Occiput

The back of the head. In Odonata, Megaloptera, and Neuroptera, the upper part of the head behind the eyes.

 

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Punctate

Dotted with pits (punctures), translucent sunken glands, or colored spots of pigment.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Greg Watson

 
    cut-leaved toothwort      
           
 
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  Greg Watson
5/9/2023

Location: Carley State Park

cut-leaved toothwort  
           
 
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Created: 5/15/2023

Last Updated:

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