Found in the Back Yard – ???
April 16, 2010
We live by a creek, and my first thought was that it looks like something that spends its larval stage in the water. This was found on 4/4/2010, after we’ve had mayflies and at the same time with craneflies and dragonflies.
It didn’t seem to like being out on the concrete; it ran and buried itself in the mulch as quickly as it could. It flew around a little, but didn’t fly away.
It’s about an inch long, and sturdily built; it has a very unusual combination of features: wasp-like glossy black wings, muscular thick body, big head. It doesn’t show well in the pictures, but the rear of the abdomen almost looks fringed when it is moving.
Michael
Dallas, Texas (Oak Cliff / Southern Dallas)
Dear Michael,
Your beetle is a Rove Beetle in the family Staphylinidae. This is a large family, and BugGuide has numerous pages with subfamilies and genera. We will try to identify the species in the future.
Eric Eaton identifies the species
April 19, 2010
Daniel:
The rove beetle from Texas is Platydracus maculosus. Here’s a link with more info and images:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/14441
Eric