Green Metallic Clerid Beetle
Profile
Ellura
Bulbous Antennae Clerid
Dorsal
 
                      
Green Metallic Clerid Beetle (Phlogistus sp)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Beetles (Coleoptera)
Family: Clerid Beetle (Cleridae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Green Metallic Clerid Beetle (Phlogistus sp)
This Photo:     Head

Thank you Justin S. Bartlett for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~6mm long. Metallic Green covering, including legs.
Very hairy, typical of clerid beetles.
Even has long hair extruding from the eyes.
Found in Melaleuca lanceolata flower during the day.
We thought this was Phlogistus schulzi, but Justin said "Your species appears to belong to a complex of Phlogistus species that all have bicoloured protibiae and a weak pronotal sulcus (as in the type species, Phlogistus instabilis). Phlogistus schulzi does not belong that that complex . . . . it has a more rotund and smooth pronotum and distinctive shallow but uniform elytral punctation. Unfortunately, you just won't get a species ID on this, partly as there are so many similar-looking metallic green species in this genus, and partly as it is covered in powdery frass of some kind."

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 02-Feb-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.