Pericoptus punctatus
Species of beetle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pericoptus punctatus is a sand scarab beetle that is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It is a smaller and similar New Zealand scarab beetle species to Pericoptus truncatus.[2][3]
| Pericoptus punctatus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pericoptus punctatus seen at Farewell Spit | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Genus: | Pericoptus |
| Species: | P. punctatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pericoptus punctatus (White, 1846) | |
This beetle can be found in sandy coastal areas throughout New Zealand. The adult beetle is nocturnal and obtains the size of approximately 16 – 22 mm in length. It normally spends the daylight hours buried under sand or vegetation such as Marram grass or driftwood. It can fly and is likely to be attracted to lights in the evening.[1]
Taxonomy
This species was originally described by Adam White and named Cheiroplatys punctatus in The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Erebus & HMS Terror in 1846 from a specimen collected by Percy William Earl and obtained from him during the Ross expedition.[4][5] The type specimen for this species was collected in Waikouaiti[6] and is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[4]
