Clown Beetle
S6, Mandibles & Legs
Ellura
Clown Beetle
S6, Sculpture
 
                      
Clown Beetle (Saprinus laetus)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Beetles (Coleoptera)
Family: Clown Beetle (Histeridae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Clown Beetle (Saprinus laetus)
This Photo:     🔍S6, Antennae🔎

Thank you Boris Büche for identifying and Mark Hura for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Quite small @ 4.5 to 7mm, with large mandibles, for it's size, and wide legs clearly used for digging.
Very metallic blue/green back/elytra and metallic yellow/gold shield/pronotum.
Club like antennae. Notice the body is covered in scores & pits almost sculptured; these are the same on all speciemens so conclude they are not damage marks.
The dirt on specimen four (S4) highlights the edge of the elytra quite well.
The scores mentioned above are diagnostic and referred to as streaks or stria. Here there are 4 with the 1st (inner) being short, with the other 3 being longer. Go to the iNat link to see a link to a more detailed description.
Boris id'ed our S6, we consider the other specimens we've photographed to be the same (even with the large size differences).

Copyright © 2019-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 15-May-2019
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.