Passalid Beetle vs Metallic Eumolpine Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Passalid Beetle Metallic Eumolpine Beetle
Scientific Name Pharochilus dilatatus Chrysochus asclepiadeus
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Passalidae Chrysomelidae
Size 25-35 mm 8-10 mm
Habitat Forests Mountains
Diet Wood Feeders Herbivores
Regions Australia Southern and Central Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Passalid Beetle

A large, glossy black beetle that lives in family groups inside rotting logs. Adults and larvae communicate using squeaking sounds produced by rubbing body parts together.

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Did You Know?

Parents chew wood into pulp to feed their young, making them one of few beetles with true parental care.

Metallic Eumolpine Beetle

A brilliant metallic dark blue to violet beetle closely related to the North American dogbane beetles. It is found on vincetoxicum and other Asclepiadaceae in the mountains of Europe.

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Did You Know?

Like its North American relatives on milkweed, it sequesters toxic cardiac glycosides from its host plant to deter predators.