Eleodes opacus ( Say, 1823 )

Triplehorn, Charles A., Thomas, Donald B. & Rile, Edward G., 2009, The Genus Eleodes Eschscholtz (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) In Texas, The Coleopterists Bulletin 63 (4), pp. 413-437 : 426

Eleodes opacus ( Say, 1823)

(Figs. 15–16, Map 7)

Diagnosis. Fusiform-oval, opaque, sparsely clothed with white or yellowish recumbent setae. The dorsum of the elytra is typically flat with acute lateral margins, but specimens from around Mobeetee, Texas have three feeble costae ( Blaisdell 1909). The humeral angles of the pronotum are prolonged, embracing the obtusely rounded basal angles of the abdomen; pronotum widest at the base and about twice as wide as the head. The profemora are mutic in both sexes. Length: 10–14 mm.

Distribution. In Texas, this species is known from the panhandle and west central counties. Elsewhere in the United States, it is found from Oklahoma to the Great Plains north into Canada. It is the most destructive false wireworm to wheat in Kansas and South Dakota (McColloch 1922; Calkins and Kirk 1973).