''Mesostena puncticollis'', the opossum beetle, is a species 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 subfamily
Pimeliinae
Pimeliinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Tenebrionidae.
Selected genera
* Tribus Adelostomini
** '' Adelostoma''
** '' Carinosella''
** '' Eurychora''
** '' Prunaspila''
* Tribus Adesmiini
** '' Adesmia''
** '' Alogenius''
** ' ...
.
Description
''Mesostena puncticollis'' can reach a length of about . Head, thorax and elytra are black, while ventral surface is reddish brown. Pronotum is goblet-shaped, elytra are elongated-elliptical, with large spots on the spotting-rows.
[Bekir Keski]
A new record for the Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) fauna of Turkey: Mesostena puncticollis Solier, 1835 (Pimeliinae: Tentyriini)
/ref>Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Volume 5
/ref>
Distribution and habitat
This species is present in Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
.[
]
References
Pimeliinae
Insects of the Middle East
Beetles described in 1835
{{Tenebrionidae-stub