Alice Springs Fauna •
A member of the genus Pterohelaeus, this beetle is a member of a group often referred to as the Blue Pie-dish Beetles. Members of this group vary from a dusty blue-grey-black to a more obvious blue, unlike the genus Helea group of beetles who are nearly always black.
This Pterohelaeus specie is small and has a more round appearance, compared to many of the species in the Pterohelaeus genus. A flightless species they have fused elytra and no hind wings.
The Australian pie-dish beetles are representatives of the large cosmopolitan darkling beetle family, Tenebrionidae. They were first discovered by Frenchmen François Péron and his companion Charles Lesueur on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, in 1803. Most Australian pie-dish beetles belong in the genera, Helea or Pterohelaeus.5
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Coleoptera
- Suborder: Polyphaga
- Superfamily: Tenebrionoidea
- Family: Tenebrionidae
- Informal: Tenebrionoid branch
- Subfamily: Tenebrioninae
- Tribe: Heleini
- Subtribe: Heleina
- Genus: Pterohelaeus
Footnote & References
- Many thanks for ID to Vrata Noviny member of Australasian Beetles Only, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1180404322409639/
- Pterohelaeus Brême, 1842, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https:/biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/cd01c5a7-4ebe-4a4c-a921-0fefcd827876
- Blue Pie-dish Beetles (Genus Pterohelaeus), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/489951-Pterohelaeus
- Blue Pie-dish Beetles Genus Pterohelaeus, ausemade, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/190564452
- Pie-dish Beetles, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/pie-dish-beetles/
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
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