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Clerid beetle feeding on Leptospermum flowers. Thanks to Justin Bartlett for identification and providing more accurate notes on clerid beetles.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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CLERID BEETLE FACTS |
Identification
Clerid beetles are elongate, hairy beetles with large often bulging eyes, strong biting mandibles and clubbed antennae. They are often metallic or have bright contrasting colour patterns. Some species are mimics of certain ants and wasps.
Size
10mm. Australian clerids range from as small as 3mm (as in "Lemidia" or "Crobenia" species) to as large as 5cm (as in "Eunatalis titana").
Habitat
Adults are found on flowers, foliage, or on tree trunks or fallen logs where some females lay their eggs. Larvae are found either in the tunnels of wood-boring beetle larvae, secreted into bark crevices, or in leaf litter on the ground.
Food
Clerid larvae are predaceous on the larvae and pupae of other insects, especially those boring into timber. Adult clerids attack other beetles or may feed on pollen and nectar of flowering plants.
Range
Eleale lepida is common along the east coast of Australia
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Coleoptera | | Family: | Cleridae | | Genus: | Eleale | | Species: | lepida | | Common Name: | Clerid beetle |
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