Kingdom Animalia Family Silphidae Tribe Silphini Genus Oxelytrum Order Beetle | Class Insecta Subfamily Silphinae Phylum Arthropoda Rank Species | |
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Similar Beetle, Silphinae, Coprophanaeus, Silphidae, Burying beetle | ||
Oxelytrum cayennense is a species of burying beetles or carrion beetles belonging to the family Silphidae.
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Description
Oxelytrum cayennense can reach a length of about 13–19 millimetres (0.51–0.75 in). They have three ridges on each elytron, without hairs on the pronotal disk and without a tooth or only with a small protuberance in the humeral region of the elytra. Elytra are black, with pointed apices. Head has prominent eyes and antennae with a 3-segmented antennal club. Pronotum usually shows a uniform orange-red or yellow color, but often a dark maculae, almost rounded or a little quadrangular-shaped, occupies the center of the pronotal disk.
These carrion beetles are nocturnal. They are commonly associated with decomposing carcasses of animals. Adults feed both on soft tissues of carcasses and on larvae and eggs of flies, while the larvae are strictly scavengers.
Distribution and habitat
This species is present in most of northern and central South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Peru, Venezuela). It can be found in lower to middle elevation rain forest habitats.