Specimen image via iDigBio · CC0
Somaticus
Sign in to saveThe tar darkling beetles (Somaticus) are an Afrotropical genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae). Adults are omnivorous scavengers, and the larvae, known as false wireworms, feed on plant roots. The larvae of several species are known to damage maize crops. The adults are matte black with longitudinal ridges on the pronotum and elytra, and may be covered in hairs of different colours.
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 89
- With media
- 2
- Family
- Tenebrionidae
- Collections
- SAM
- Recorded in
- South Africa, Namibia
Wikidata facts
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- Commons category
- Somaticus
- taxon name
- Somaticus
- taxon rank
- genus
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
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The tar darkling beetles (Somaticus) are an Afrotropical genus of darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae). Adults are omnivorous scavengers, and the larvae, known as false wireworms, feed on plant roots. The larvae of several species are known to damage maize crops. The adults are matte black with longitudinal ridges on the pronotum and elytra, and may be covered in hairs of different colours.
Species include: Somaticus aeneus Solier, 1843 Somaticus angulatus (Fahraeus) Somaticus cinctus Haag-Rutenberg, 1873 Somaticus damarinus (Peringuey, 1904) Somaticus distinctus Peringuey, 1892 Somaticus geniculatus Somaticus haagi Peringuey, 1886 Somaticus metropolis Somaticus spinosus Solier, 1843 Somaticus terricola Somaticus vestitus Somaticus wahlbergi Haag-Rutenberg, 1873
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Somaticus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.