Sharp-antennae Darkling Beetle
S2, profile
Ellura
Sharp-antennae Darkling Beetle
S1, Mandibles
 
                      
Sharp-antennae Darkling Beetle (Brises acuticornis)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Beetles (Coleoptera)
Family: Darkling Beetle (Tenebrionidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Sharp-antennae Darkling Beetle (Brises acuticornis)
This Photo:     🔍S2, Body🔎

Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
1st Live Photo on-line
~16-17mm long.
The Rusty colour seems consistent with these.
Came to the Night Light.
A unique combination of:
1. Matt body
2. Light hair covering
3. Small punctuations
4. Fine ridges
5. Front edge of pronotum shape
6. Face, antennae shields
7. Elytra shape
Mark said "Interesting - looks like Brises acuticornis (teneral)".
We never realised a beetle could have a teneral stage. We've only of this with dragonflies.
After we found some links of pinned specimens of Brises acuticornis, Mark said "Both images in your links are of Brises acuticornis duboulayi ..., which has the granulations on the elytra. By contrast Brises acuticornis acuticornis (which yours appears to be) doesn't have the granulations, and the ridges are far less pronounced."

Copyright © 2023-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 28-Jan-2023
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.