''Alobates (

Motschulsky Victor Ivanovich Motschulsky, sometimes Victor von Motschulsky (Russian: Виктор Иванович Мочульский; 11 April 1810, St. Petersburg – 5 June 1871, Simferopol) was a Russian entomologist mainly interested in beetles. Mo ...

1872)'' is a genus of

darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour beetles ...

s in the family

Tenebrionidae Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour beetles ...

. The name likely comes from Greek 'alo' (variant of allo) meaning 'other', and 'bates' meaning 'one who treads/haunts'. There are at least two described species in ''Alobates''. These species are often misidentified, but can be differentiated by a view of the

mentum The term mentum can refer to several anatomical structures near the mouth of an animal: *The median plate of an insect's labium. *The protruding part of the human chin. *A certain thin projection of the soft parts of the animal, below the mouth, i ...

of the head

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

. '' A. barbatus'' have a tuft of long yellow

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

, while '' A. pensylvanicus'' does not. Alobates pensylvanicus P1100087a

Species

These two species belong to the genus ''Alobates'': * ''

Alobates barbatus ''Alobates (Victor Ivanovitsch Motschulsky, Motschulsky 1872)'' is a genus of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. The name likely comes from Greek 'alo' (variant of allo) meaning 'other', and 'bates' meaning 'one who treads/haunts'. The ...

'' (Knoch, 1801)^b * '' Alobates pennsylvanica'' (DeGeer, 1775) ^{g b} Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net The species ''Alobates pensylvanicus'' is sometimes erroneously spelled "pennsylvanica" or "pensylvanica".

References

External links

* Tenebrionidae Tenebrionidae genera {{tenebrionidae-stub

Species

References

Further reading

External links