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Trilobite Beetles
Platerodrilus
Platerodrilus is a genus of beetles of the family Lycidae. They commonly appear in the literature under the name Duliticola, which is an obsolete junior synonym. The females retain a larval form as adults (larviform females) and are about 40–80 mm in length. The females and larvae have a flattened, dark body with large scales over the head, resembling trilobites, hence the informal names trilobite beetle, trilobite larva or Sumatran trilobite larva. The females feed on rotting wood, fungi, slime molds, and other small organisms that help break down decaying matter. Males are much smaller, 8–9 mm, resemble other lycid beetles, and likely feed on nectar for energy to fly and mate. Species are found in tropical forests of India and Southeast Asia.
Although the females resemble the prehistoric trilobite, the trilobite beetle evolved approximately 47 million years ago, 200 million years after trilobites had gone extinct. As only the females have this appearance the search for the species' males remained a mystery until Swedish zoologist Eric Mjöberg published a research paper describing them in 1925.
42 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Platerodrilus svetae
speciesPlaterodrilus svetae
Platerodrilus ruficollis
speciesPlaterodrilus ruficollis
Platerodrilus igneus
speciesPlaterodrilus igneus
Platerodrilus ngi
speciesPlaterodrilus ngi
Platerodrilus foliaceus
speciesPlaterodrilus foliaceus
Trilobite Beetle
speciesPlaterodrilus paradoxus
Platerodrilus montanus
speciesPlaterodrilus montanus
Platerodrilus maninjauensis
speciesPlaterodrilus maninjauensis
Platerodrilus tujuhensis
speciesPlaterodrilus tujuhensis
Platerodrilus palawanensis
speciesPlaterodrilus palawanensis
Platerodrilus sinuatus
speciesPlaterodrilus sinuatus
Platerodrilus ruficeps
speciesPlaterodrilus ruficeps
Platerodrilus angustatus
speciesPlaterodrilus angustatus
Platerodrilus apicalis
speciesPlaterodrilus apicalis
Platerodrilus atricolor
speciesPlaterodrilus atricolor
Platerodrilus corporaali
speciesPlaterodrilus corporaali
Platerodrilus grootaerti
speciesPlaterodrilus grootaerti
Platerodrilus holynskae
speciesPlaterodrilus holynskae
Platerodrilus inapicalis
speciesPlaterodrilus inapicalis
Platerodrilus indicus
speciesPlaterodrilus indicus
Platerodrilus luteus
speciesPlaterodrilus luteus
Platerodrilus ranauensis
speciesPlaterodrilus ranauensis
Platerodrilus reductus
speciesPlaterodrilus reductus
Platerodrilus rotundicollis
speciesPlaterodrilus rotundicollis
Platerodrilus rufus
speciesPlaterodrilus rufus
Platerodrilus talamauensis
speciesPlaterodrilus talamauensis
Platerodrilus sibayakensis
speciesPlaterodrilus sibayakensis
Platerodrilus sinabungensis
speciesPlaterodrilus sinabungensis
Platerodrilus ijenensis
speciesPlaterodrilus ijenensis
Platerodrilus korinchianus
speciesPlaterodrilus korinchianus
Platerodrilus robinsoni
speciesPlaterodrilus robinsoni
Platerodrilus testaceicollis
speciesPlaterodrilus testaceicollis
Platerodrilus bicolor
speciesPlaterodrilus bicolor
Platerodrilus curtus
speciesPlaterodrilus curtus
Platerodrilus wongi
speciesPlaterodrilus wongi
Platerodrilus strbai
speciesPlaterodrilus strbai
Platerodrilus piceicollis
speciesPlaterodrilus piceicollis
Platerodrilus atronotatus
speciesPlaterodrilus atronotatus
Platerodrilus crassicornis
speciesPlaterodrilus crassicornis
Platerodrilus hirtus
speciesPlaterodrilus hirtus
Platerodrilus major
speciesPlaterodrilus major
Platerodrilus wittmeri
speciesPlaterodrilus wittmeri
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Platerodrilus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 497760.