Ant-like Leaf Beetles, Aderidae, are a widespread but little-studied group of Beetles found across the globe. The adults, which in some species resemble Ants are found on the underside of the leaves of trees and shrubs, while the larvae are found in rotting wood, leaf litter, and sometimes the nests of social Insects. The group contains about a thousand species, the majority of which are found in the tropics.
In a paper publshed in the journal Zootaxa on 26 October 2017, Nicolas Gompel of the Fakultät für Biologie at Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, describes a new species of Ant-like Leaf Beetle from the United States, as part of a review of the North American genus Elonus.
The new species is named Elonus gruberi, in honour of Jeff Gruber, a friend of Nicolas Gompel, for his work collecting Beetles in North America. These Beetles range from 2.6 to 3.4 mm in length and are a dark matte brown in colour, with orange markings on the wing-cases. They are found in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin states.
Elonus gruberi, from Wisconsin. Gompel (2017).
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