Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetle - (Ontholestes cingulatus)

Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetles may spend all their time in places of rot and decay, but they must go where there food grows.

Staff Writer (8/16/2017): Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetles eat flies, maggots and other living insects that use carrion, fungi, dung and rotting plants as their habitat. Slender and long, Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetles look somewhat similar to Earwigs, a root eating insect found in container and flower gardens. The Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetle's wings are short and part of their abdomen is exposed for viewing. The tip of the abdomen has golden yellow hairs on it, giving it a pop of color and a shiny metallic gleam. When walking, it tends to curve upward.

Rove Beetles prefer to stay unseen and are likely to take cover when approached. They can fly and may be glimpsed leaving a feeding site after detecting movement. Most disappear from view before observers begin taking notice of them, so spotting one is a treat.

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Details of the:
Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetle

Category: Beetle
Common name: Gold-and-Brown Rove Beetle
Scientific Name: Ontholestes cingulatus

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Staphylinidae

Genus: Ontholestes

Species: cingulatus

Size (Adult, Length): 13mm to 18mm (0.51in to 0.71in)

Identifying Colors: brown, yellow, gold

Additional Descriptors: wingless, half-wing, exposed, metallic, shiny, flying

North American Reach (Though Not Limited To*): Alabama; Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska;New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Vermont; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; Wisconsin; British Columbia; New Brunswick; Newfoundland and Labrador; Nova Scotia; Ontario; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Mexico

* Keep in mind that an insect's reach is not limited by lines on a map and therefore may appear in areas/regions/states beyond those listed above.

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