ANT-LIKE FLOWER BEETLE
Malporus formicarius
ANT-LIKE FLOWEER BEETLES (Anthicidae)
This beetle is about 1/8 of an inch long. It is reddish and black and resembles an ant. The head narrows just in front of the pronotum forming a neck and the posterior end of the pronotum is usually narrow as well. The legs and antennae are slender, emphasizing the ant-like appearance, and the body is sparsely covered with long hairs.
This beetle was found at the blind in the wetlands. Its overall occurrence at the nature center is not known.
This beetle belongs to a family of beetles often called ant-like flower beetles or ant-like beetles that resemble ants. The family consists of over 3,000 species in about 100 general. Many members of the family are attracted to a substance called cantharidin which they seem to accumulate and that repels possible predators. Their diet consists of small arthropods, pollen, fungi and whatever else they find.
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