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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.

Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT

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.

Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT

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

Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT
Blue Pie-dish Beetle (Pterohelaeus sp), Alice Springs NT

  • 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

  1. Many thanks for ID to Vrata Noviny member of Australasian Beetles Only, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1180404322409639/
  2. Pterohelaeus Brême, 1842, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Pterohelaeus
  3. Blue Pie-dish Beetles (Genus Pterohelaeus), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/489951-Pterohelaeus
  4. Blue Pie-dish Beetles Genus Pterohelaeus, ausemade, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/190564452
  5. Pie-dish Beetles, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/pie-dish-beetles/

Alice Springs Beetles IndexBisallardiana sp Blaps polychresta Bolboceratidae Calosoma oceanicum Calosoma schayeri Carphurus (Soft-winged Flower Beetle) Cassidini Chalcophorotaenia Chlorobapta frontalis Coccinella transversalis (Transverse Ladybird) Colpochila Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mealybug Destroyer Beetle) Cybister tripunctatus (Three-punctured Diving Beetle) Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle) Enochrus (Water Scavenger Beetle) Eretes australis (Padded Diving Beetle) Fungus Weevil (Dendropemon subfasciatus) Hydrophilus brevispina Lepidiota Merimna atrata Neospades sp Pachydissus (Longhorn Beetles) Paropsisterna laesa (Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle) Phoracantha punctata (Longhorn Beetle) Phorticosomus sp Phoracantha recurva (Eucalyptus Longhorn Beetle) Prioninae subfamily Protaetia fusca (Mottled Flower Scarab) Pterohelaeus sp (Blue Pie-dish Beetles) Scarabaeinae (Dung Beetles)

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