Who is who? Paropsisterna sexpustulata

Can you see the difference? Paropsisterna sexpustulata has glossy elytra but Paropsisterna nigerrima (var.) picta has ten rows of coarse puncturations on each elytron. This is another model species for the mimetic Paropsisterna nigerrima.

comments (5)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Thank you for pointing out these subtle differences. This one is easy to remember, yet in your vast collection I'm sure a lot need even more detailed clues. Posted 8 years ago
1. Martin Lagerwey
  
  Lion
  
  Ferdy, it gets hard when they are mimicking and when they are polymorphic. Posted 8 years ago

englishindiangirl

Lion

Lovely picture and also now know the meaning of elytron! ( New word for me, lol!) Posted 8 years ago
1. Martin Lagerwey
  
  Lion
  
  Yes, I love words. If we don't use that one nobody ever will.
  This beetle is sometimes called the eight spotted leaf beetle which seems to make sense. However, we ignore the pronotal spot because it can sometimes be variable and less reliable for identification. In latin it is called ''sex - pustulata'' meaning six. Well there is another beetle called Paropsisterna octosignita which has eight spots on the elytra. You can notice that the latin binomials are allocated forensically and accurately while common names are sometimes arbitrary and ambiguous.
  
  Posted 8 years ago