Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

NOTE: As of 2014, the California Beetle Project page is no longer updated.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.




    • Home/Overview
    • Checklists
    • Database
    • Fieldwork
    • Phylogeography
    • Photo Gallery
    • Species pages
    • Endangered beetles
    • Personnel
    • Informatics
    • Collaborators
    • Collection
    • Bibliography
    • Support the project
    • Beetle links
 


Funded in part by award DEB0447694 from the National Science Foundation to M. Caterino.




Last updated 01/16/2009

 California Beetle Project > Species Pages > Megasternum posticatum

Classification

Scientific name: Megasternum posticatum (Mannerheim)
    Order Coleoptera
    Superfamily Hydrophiloidea
    Family Hydrophilidae

Images (click to enlarge)

What it looks like: 1.6-2.0 mm in length. Its body is very robust and oval-shaped. It is dark reddish-brown, with light brown antennae and feet. The elytra have distinct striae, or rows of punctures, that extend the length of the wing coverings in evenly spaced rows.

Where you'll find it: This species is found all along the Pacific coast from southern Alaska through California.

Natural History: These beetles can occur in a wide variety of rotting organic material from horse dung to seaweed to rats' nests.

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




© 2026 Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History