This is a bright red beetle about 1 inch long. The antenna, and parts of the leg are black. The beetle has a greatly flattened form. The antennae are long and beadlike. The elytra are striate or lined. The larva are a light shade of orange. This beetle was photographed and identified by Tony Palmer an entomologist at the Henry Doorly Zoo.
The flattened shape allows the beetle to travel in narrow galleries and crevises in wood. They live under the bark of trees. They are often seen when peeling bark. This beetle was found on the bark of a dead tree near Chickadee trail. Its overall occurrence at Fontenelle Forest is not known but you would expect it to be fairly common.
These beetles are thought to feed on mites and small insects. This once constituted a large group of beetles but several members of this family have been reclassified to other related families.
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