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NOTE: As of 2014, the California Beetle Project page is no longer updated.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

Classification

Scientific name: Xenicopoda helenae Moore and Legner
    Order Coleoptera
    Superfamily Staphilinoidea
    Family Staphylinidae

Images (click to enlarge)

What it looks like: 2.5-3.0 mm in length. It's body is reddish-brown, and covered in bristle-like hairs. The elytra are short, the eyes are large, and the clavate antennae are about half the length of the entire body. The males have very large claws on their front tarsus (foot).

Where you'll find it: It is endemic to California, ranging from San Luis Obispo County to Los Angeles County.

Natural History: Adults of these beetles are pollen feeders, commonly found on Ceanothus (California lilac). They are active in late winter to early spring.

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




© 2026 Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History