''Stenus solutus'' is a species of

rove beetle The rove beetles are a family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With roughly 63,000 species in thousands of genera, the ...

widely spread in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Description

It is very similar to ''Stenus cicindeloides''. Male is about 6.5 mm and female is about 5.0 mm in length. Antennae base is yellowish with darkened from 5th segment. Head, thorax and elytra are entirely punctate. Basal segments of abdomen are rugose basally, where the apical segments are finely punctate throughout. Legs are darkened where the 4th tarsal segment is strongly bilobed. Adults are usually found from May through to November. They inhabit on wet mud and among dense riverside vegetation. In the pygidial gland secretions of the species, the

piperidine alkaloids Piperidine alkaloids are naturally occurring chemical compounds from the group of alkaloids, which are chemically derived from piperidine. Alkaloids with a piperidine Building block (chemistry), building block are widespread and are usually furth ...

s called cicindeloine is found as a main compound. Also (E)-3-(2-methyl-1-butenyl)pyridine and traces of

stenusine Stenusin is a piperidine alkaloid molecule synthesized by rove beetles of the genus '' Stenus Latreille''. By lowering its abdomen and releasing stenusin, this genus of rove beetle are able to quickly escape predators through a process called ski ...

can be found as defensive alkaloids against predation and microorganismic infestation.

References

Staphylinidae Insects of Sri Lanka Insects of Europe Insects described in 1840 {{Staphylinidae-stub