Friday Beetle Blogging: Araeoschizus Ant Beetle

Araeoschizus sp. Ant Beetle (Tenebrionidae)

California

Araeoschizus is a small genus of darkling beetle that both resembles ants and lives close to ant nests.  It occurs in the arid western regions of North America. Not much is known about the nature of the association of these beetles with the ants, but they may subsist on the refuse of harvester ant colonies.

photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D

f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper

Beetles collected by Kojun Kanda.

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By request, I have now organized the ant photos by subfamily.  This mimics the arrangement from the old site.  For the smug-muggers out there who want to know how it work
It's no secret to anyone with an email inbox that the real internet is shadowed by a fake internet.

"Of course itâs a beauty. It looks like an ant."

What's up with your avatar? It definitely doesn't look like an ant! ;-)

Emile at The World We Don't Live In has an entry on another beetle that lives in ant nests, but doesn't look a thing in the world like them.