Eleodes (Metablapylis) delicatus Blaisdell, 1929

Johnston, M. Andrew, Fleming, David, Franz, Nico M. & Smith, Aaron D., 2015, Amphidorini Leconte (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) of Arizona: Keys and Species Accounts, The Coleopterists Bulletin (mo 14) 69, pp. 27-54 : 46

Eleodes (Metablapylis) delicatus Blaisdell, 1929

( Fig. 11C )

Diagnosis. Body slender, elongate, glabrous, and shiny. Pronotum narrowed in posterior half, anterior margin nearly straight, feebly arcuate, anterior angles not produced forward, rectangular. Elytra elongate and more or less parallel-sided, punctures small, arranged in striae, intervals 6–10 times as wide as punctures. Apical antenomere elongate, trapezoidal, distinctly longer than wide. Female genitalia with inner lobe of coxite elongate, length from tip of gonostyle to posterior end at least twice as long as length of gonostyle.

Distribution. Coconino, Maricopa, and Cochise Counties, Arizona. Southern Utah.

Remarks. This slender species can be quite difficult to separate from E. dissimilis , which has larger elytral punctures and rounded and projected anterior pronotal angles. It has been found in conjunction with rocky talus slopes. Most specimens we have seen of this species are mixed in series determined as Eleodes nevadensis Blaisdell. The latter taxon is ambiguous and here treated as unrecognized. See the discussion on that species.

Figures

Fig. 11. Eleodes species, dorsal habitus. A) E. madrensis, female, B) E. hepburni, female, C) E. delicatus, female, D) E. wheeleri, female. Scale bars = 1 cm.