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Trilobite Beetle
Seen near Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo (2015). It is tentative ID for the species because even for experts is very difficult to distinguish trilobites of the genus Platerodrilus and some are not even species described yet.
Platerodrilus is a genus of beetles of the family Lycidae. They commonly appear in the literature under the name Duliticola, which is an obsolete synonym. The females stay in the larval form and are about 40–80 mm in length (I think the one in the pic is larval as the male adults have red borders in their segments. They have a flat dark body with large scales over the head, resembling trilobites, hence the informal names Trilobite beetle, Trilobite larva or "Sumatran Trilobite larva" (many species are found all over Malaysia, including Borneo). The males are much smaller, 8–9 mm, with a beetle-like appearance. Most are found in tropical rainforests, notably in India and South-east Asia. For more info on the complexity of the species see: http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=3966
''Platerodrilus paradoxus'' is a species of trilobite beetle.
comments (4)
See here:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/trilobite-beetles-are-happy-being-on-land-alive-in-the-present-day/
In any case remember the species ID is tentative. The genus should be fine. Only experts can really tell a part and they are still discovering and clasifying new species. I imagine they need to resort to genetics to tell them a part. Posted 9 years ago, modified 9 years ago
Very interesting link you gave with an awesome video, linking it here:
Posted 9 years ago, modified 9 years ago
Most pictures I saw with reference to this species has the orange coloured edges and knobs on its body.
I am not an expert in them, just hi-lighting the difference in appearance, or are they highly variable? Posted 8 years ago