Bledius spectabilis
| Bledius spectabilis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Staphylinidae |
| Genus: | Bledius |
| Species: | B. spectabilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Bledius spectabilis Kratz, 1857 | |
Bledius spectabilis or the magnificent salt beetle is a small rove beetle
Description
This beetle is 5 to 7 millimetres long and has brightly coloured legs. The wing covers are brownish and as wide as they are long..
Distribution
B. spectabilis inhabits the sea shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, the coasts of the Mediterranean from Asia Minor to Spain and Morocco, and the Atlantic coast as far north as the Irish Sea and the North Sea.
Behaviour
Bledius spectabilis, shows very unusual behaviour for an insect in that it actively protects its larvae from the parasitic wasp Barycnemis blediator and from the predatory Dicheirotrichus gustavi.[1]
References
- ↑ Wyatt, T D; Foster, W A (1989). "Parental Care in the Subsocial Intertidal Beetle, Bledius spectabilis, in Relation to Parasitism by the Ichneumonid Wasp, Barycnemis blediator". Behaviour 110 (1–4): 76–92. doi:10.1163/156853989x00394.