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NOTE: As of 2014, the California Beetle Project page is no longer updated. The original database and list of California beetles in the menu on the left will remain for the time being, but the information contained within is not necessarily current. SBMNH Entomology Curator Matthew L. Gimmel has divided up the function of the original database into two conceptual halves:

  1. The SBMNH Entomology specimen-level database, including all SBMNH beetle specimens included in the CBP database, which is now available (and ever-growing) through the ecdysis portal at https://serv.biokic.asu.edu/ecdysis/

  2. A literature- (and available specimen-)based checklist.
    3. of the Coleoptera of California, which is being revised and re-compiled by Dr. Gimmel, and, as of January 2017, is about 85% complete.



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Last updated 01/16/2009

 California Beetle Project > Species Pages > Macrosaigon cruentum

Classification

Scientific name: Macrosaigon cruentum (Germar)
    Order Coleoptera
    Superfamily Tenebrionoidea
    Family Rhipiphoridae

Images (click to enlarge)

What it looks like: 5-8 mm in length. Its body has large alternating stripes of orange and black and long legs, making it look like a wasp.

Where you'll find it: These beetles are found throughout California. They can be found in mountain ranges (coastal and inland) and in more desert-like environments. They are particularly abundant on flowers of buckwheat (Erigonum).

Natural History: This species is parasitic, preying as larvae on wasps. The other species in this genus is a bee parasite.

This page was written by Maren Farnum, a 2005 California Beetle Project intern.



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