Tag Archives: Bembidion

Four?

Posted on 23 March 2013 by David Maddison

In western North America small, dark Bembidion (Plataphus) are common on gravel river shores.  Most of these are called Bembidion curtulatum.   They are the smallest members of subgenus Plataphus (sensu Lindroth) in North America, at about 3.5 mm long. As … Continue reading →

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BotW: Bembidion bowditchii

Posted on 13 March 2013 by David Maddison

The beetle of the week is a very elegant species, Bembidion bowditchii, which lives in western North America.  It is rarely caught, but not uncommon in the right habitats: broad sandy shorelines of rivers.  It is abundant on the Kootenay River near … Continue reading →

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Sculpture on a very small scale

Posted on 7 March 2013 by David Maddison

If one looks up close onto the back of a carabid beetle, one will see (in most species) very fine, engraved lines which form a pattern, usually looking like honeycombs, or bricks, or long, thin parallel lines.  This is called … Continue reading →

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BotW: Bembidion poculare

Posted on 6 March 2013 by David Maddison

This Bembidion is common in oak woodlands in southern Arizona.  It is not directly associated with a body of water (which is unusual for a Bembidion), instead living between oaks and mesquite trees where the soil is slightly damp (perhaps in … Continue reading →

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Pretty heads and furrowed brows

Posted on 26 February 2013 by David Maddison

What is it about Bembidion heads?  And, in particular, what is it with the heads of one subgroup of Bembidion, the Bembidion Series?  The Bembidion Series is a large clade of few hundred species, and represents perhaps a quarter of … Continue reading →

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The mysterious Bembidion ulkei

Posted on 15 February 2013 by David Maddison

In Carl Lindroth’s (1963) classic work on the Bembidiina of Canada and Alaska, he describes some species that do not occur in Canada or Alaska.  These species were always a source of some mystery to me when I was a … Continue reading →

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Wicked and confused Bembidion

Posted on 6 February 2013 by David Maddison

There are over 1200 known species of Bembidion.  Many of them are hard to tell apart.  They are small beetles.  Maybe for this reason some taxonomists have struggled with them, and their frustration occasionally is expressed when they name new … Continue reading →

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Delightful DNA

Posted on 6 February 2013 by David Maddison

Well, it looks as if Bembidion (Plataphus) curtulatum is at least three species.  The above bits of DNA show parts of 28S ribosomal DNA.  Of the 950 bases that were sequenced, this shows only those sites that differ from one … Continue reading →

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BotW: Bembidion confusum

Posted on 5 February 2013 by David Maddison

The Beetle of the Day today is Bembidion confusum.  This is a common species on sandy river and pond shores east of the Rockies in North America.  It’s the species whose head appears on the “Subulate Palpomere” sign.

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A live revision

Posted on 1 February 2013 by David Maddison

Over the course of the next three years, some of us (me, John Sproul, and others) in the Maddison Lab will be “revising” the Bembidiina of North America.  This means we will be going into the field in the USA … Continue reading →

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