GOLD AND BROWN ROVE BEETLE
Ontholestes cingulatus
ROVE BEETLE FAMILY (Staphylinidae)
Rove beetles usually have short wing covers which leave much of the abdomen exposed. This beetle is around -1 inch in size which is large for a rove beetle. It is dark brown and hairy. Clumps of hair form dark spots on much of body. Yellow hair forms a belt under the thorax, which gives it a bright gold tail and covers parts of last abdominal segments. The head is wider than the pronotum. The eyes are large and prominently placed on the sides of the head. It often turns the yellow tip of the abdomen upward when walking.
This beetle is found in woodlands and on carrion and fungi in the spring and early summer and fall over much of N. America. Its occurrence in Fontenelle Forest is not known. This specimen was photographed on south stream trail.
This is a very agile insect. In general, rove beetles comprise any of a number of beetles with characteristic very short elytra (wing cases) that conceal large, well developed wings that are intricately folded away. When required the wings can unfold very rapidly, for almost instantaneous flight. Adults eat maggots, mites, beetle larvae. None of the rove beetles are harmful to human interests and many are beneficial as predators of pest insects.
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