Ora cf. complanata - Flea Marsh Beetle (Guérin-Méneville, 1861)

Coleoptera: Polyphaga: Elateriformia: Scirtoidea: Scirtidae: Scirtinae

Length: ~3mm.
Date: 08:32:50pm.
Location: Ceará, Fortaleza (Lat: -3.75, Long: -38.51, 16th floor of a flat)

Ora is a genus of flea marsh beetles in the order Coleoptera, suborder Polyphaga, infraorder Elateriformia, superfamily Scirtoidea, family Scirtidae and subfamily Scirtinae.

The larvae of Scirtids are aquatic and live in wet places or submerged, but the adults are terrestrial and can fly or jump, also being short-lived. They usually develop in still waters, but a few species can be found in human-made places that accumulate water. The adults will feed on decaying vegetable matter next to the marshes of water. The larvae are elongate, flattened dorso-ventrally with a segmented body and typical antennae that are long and slender. When diving, a bubble of air can be seen in the extremity of the abdomen that helps them with gas exchanges.

They are normally found around submerged marginal vegetation. Some species live exclusively in water accumulated in Bromelia sp.. A few species develop free-living pupae, while others make a pupal chamber made of wood, sand or clay. They can also be found in fields, where they will feed on rotting vegetation.

You can see this very text above in Planeta Intertebrados, where you will find my picture, which I donated to the website's owner to favour environmental education: http://www.planetainvertebrados.com.br/index.asp?pagina=especies_ver&id_categoria=28&id_subcategoria=0&com=1&id=304&local=2

Through personal witness, the adults seem to be mostly nocturnal in activity.

"Ora complanata is probably a junior synonym of Ora depressa (Fabricius)." - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274059638_Review_of_Scirtidae_Coleoptera_Scirtoidea_described_by_Johan_Christian_Fabricius_1745-1808


According to Cesar of Insetologia who aided with the ID of this Scirtid, this is the closest image that can be found of an Ora similar to mine in the Internet: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1362125/bgpage

The discussion there also talks about the variation in coloring, as it is relatively different from the many others identified as the same species (https://bugguide.net/node/view/429972/bgpage). With this being said, O. complanata, according to Cesar, is common in Brazil.

This individual in Biofaces (http://www.biofaces.com/upload/post/1473897358.jpg) is also (doubtfully) identified as Ora complanata, and seeing as the genus displays great intraspecific variations, I'm not sure what to think. I will leave the species complanata as a possible guess for now.