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Malachius (cf.?) lusitanicus Female Malachius (cf.?) lusitanicus Cleroidea,Geotagged,Malachiidae,Malachiinae,Malachius,Malachius lusitanicus,Melyridae,Portugal,Spring Click/tap to enlarge

Malachius (cf.?) lusitanicus

Female Malachius (cf.?) lusitanicus

    comments (4)

  1. View Pudding4brains's profile
    Pudding4brains
    Lion
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    Going by the shape of the first antennal segments it's a female Malachius. Based on the colours, here in the north it would thus be Malachius bipustulatus, but I will need to check if there are lookalikes for Portugal ... will get back :o) Posted 8 years ago
    1. View RMFelix's profile
      RMFelix
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Thank you! Posted 8 years ago
      1. View Pudding4brains's profile
        Pudding4brains
        Lion
        View Lion class
        Howdy, I didn't see your notes with the other image until now ...
        Malachius (cf.?) lusitanicus Malachiidae<br /> <br /> http://www.aegaweb.com/inventario/coleoptera/malachiidae.htm<br /> <br /> https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtaWtlc2luc2VjdGtleXN8Z3g6MjQ0NzNlMmY0ZjNhZjJiMQ<br /> <br /> Looking for the thickening at the basis on the antenna and overall shape of the pronotum could it be cf. Malachius bipustulatus/lusitanicus?<br /> Can it be considered Clanoptilus? sp.<br /> <br /> Thanks so much for the help, cheers! Cleroidea,Geotagged,Malachiidae,Malachiinae,Malachius,Malachius lusitanicus,Melyridae,Portugal,Spring

        Clanoptilus can be ruled out without a doubt based on the first 3-4 antennal segments.
        Indeed in Portugal the problem is deciding between Malachius bipustulatus and lusitanicus. Most descriptions will concentrate on identification differences between the males and unfortunately the females of Malachiidae can easily be different to the males in some respects. The differences between the males are clear enough for me, by reading the descriptions and comparing good photographs on the internet, but your animal is a female and those are much more problematic (as in most species of Malachiidae). Nevertheless, after careful reading and comparing characters mentioned for males with females of both species I think I'm beginning to recognize what to look for and if I'm right your lady should be a lusitanicus. This also makes sense as it is the most common species of the two in Portugal, but then again you have a bit of a habit of presenting unusual species or even species new for the country here ;o)
        So, to me - without "knowing" the species(!) - I would tentatively ID this as lusitanicus, but it would certainly help to have some more hi-res images/crops of the antennae (first segments mainly) under various angles and also of the (inside) of the forelegs.
        Personally I would be very VERY interested to see a few specimen up close and personal as I'm working on a key for these species for the Netherlands after finding a new Clanoptilus for the country. I'm not expecting lusitanicus here, but it is always good to indicate the differences in such a key as species tend to hitch a ride with holiday travellers. I would be much obliged if you could find more and send me some :o)
         Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago
        1. View RMFelix's profile
          RMFelix
          Lion
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          Thanks so much for the ID and precious info my friend. also very pleased to see that I was on the right track, sometimes it seem that we are out-off-it ;o) there's a good chance to spot them again in a few days in the same area, surely i'll have a good close look on alnus glutinosa, where it was found. If so I will add records for this file. All The best to your work for the key! Cheers* Posted 8 years ago

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By RMFelix

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Uploaded May 29, 2017. Captured May 6, 2017 12:31 in Av. 25 de Abril, 2400-137 Leiria, Portugal.
country flag of Portugal Explore Portugal 1,947 873 0
  • NIKON D7100
  • f/8.0
  • 1/250s
  • ISO800
  • 50mm