CORTICOTOMUS CYLINDRICUS
Corticotomus cylindricus
BARK GNAWING BEETLES (Trogositadae)
A reddish brown small soft bodied beetle around 1/6 th of an inch long. The beetles of this family have antenna that ends in a 3 segmented club. The beetles are cylindrical to flattened with a head as broad as the pronotum. The elytra are separated by a narrow waist. This beetle was identified by Tony Palmer an entomologist at the Henry Doorly Zoo.
This beetle is believed to prey on wood eating insects or their eggs. This photo was taken on Missouri Trail in dead wood. Its overall occurrence at Fontenelle Forest is not known but we would expect it to be fairly common.
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