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Platysoma urvillei

Hister Beetle

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Image:	Specimen (BPBM-Rarotonga)	63KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Hister Beetle

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: RANGE Indonesia/PNG - New Caledonia - Fiji - Samoa - Cooks; n. to Micronesia.

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group; ?; Land, horticultural

KEY FEATURES: Glossy black beetle to 6mmBL. Jaws long and curved; frontlegs thin and expanded laterally. Wingcover longitudinal grooves - 2 long and 1 short.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Jepson's Beetle (Plaesius javanus).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P			P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Platysoma urvillei (Le Guillot, 1844)
SYNONYMS: Platysoma (Platylister) urvillei; Platylister urvillei

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Coleoptera; HISTERIDAE. COMMENT: Subfamily subf. Histerinae, Tribe Platysomatini

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Glossy black beetle to 6mmBL. HEAD long curved jaws, antennae short. THORAX with rounded anterolateral projections. LEGS foreleg second segment thin and expanded with groove to infold outer segments. WINGCOVERS 2 dorsolateral longitudinal grooves full-length, and ±rudimentary groove; abdominal 2 rear segments exposed.

GENERAL NOTE: Predator on various weevil larvae.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: 6 specimens, Avarua, 1964, 1977 & 1979, Krauss, in BPBM unidentified, ID GMcCormack 2/2003; 2 specimens, Turangi inland of Ara Metua under dead bark, Apr/1986, G.Paulay in BPBM, ID A.S.Ramsdale 5/2004. Mauke: one specimen, NE makatea, 11/1984, G.Paulay in BPBM, ID A.S.Ramsdale 5/2004.

References:
Special Reference: PM79

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05b, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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