Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle vs Ruddy Barklouse

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle Ruddy Barklouse
Scientific Name Passalus unicornis Elipsocus hyalinus
Order Coleoptera Psocoptera
Family Passalidae Elipsocidae
Size 30-45 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Woodlands Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, DRC, Congo) Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Flattened Giant Millipede Beetle

A large, flattened bess beetle with a shiny black body and a small horn on the head. Adults and larvae live together in rotting logs in a subsocial arrangement. Adults produce sounds by rubbing their hindwings against the abdomen.

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Did You Know?

Parents feed their larvae pre-chewed wood and communicate with them using stridulatory sounds, one of the few examples of parental care in beetles.

Ruddy Barklouse

A delicate bark louse with translucent wings found in European forests. It lives on lichens and algae growing on tree trunks.

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Did You Know?

Its nearly transparent wings make it almost invisible when resting on pale lichen.