| Pleocoma tularensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Pleocomidae |
| Genus: | Pleocoma |
| Species: | P. tularensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Pleocoma tularensis Leach, 1933 | |
Pleocoma tularensis is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America. [1] [2] [3] This species has one of the most largest ranges in Pleocoma and is found across central and southern Sierra Nevada.[4]
Rain beetles have been known to fly during twilight hours and under light precipitation, fog, or snowy conditions. It has long been assumed that the emerging adults are only active within a tightly constrained time window. This window occurs after the first instance of substantial rain signals the end of the summer drought. The window of activity may only be hours or days long.
One study of P. tularensis found that they emerged not on the first instance of rain, but during subsequent precipitation and declining temperatures after at least one inch of rain had accumulated. The beetles may have even waited weeks after the initial rainfall to emerge. This study also found that their window of activity was not so tightly constrained. Male P. tularensis were active for up to two months after they initially emerged and there were secondary flights during precipitation events three or four times in one season.[4]
The rain beetles are a group of beetles found in the far west of North America. They spend most of their lives underground, emerging in response to rain or snow, thus the common name. Formerly classified in the Geotrupidae, they are currently assigned to their own family Pleocomidae, considered the sister group to all the remaining families of Scarabaeoidea. The family contains a single extant genus, Pleocoma, and two extinct genera, Cretocoma, described in 2002 from Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia, and Proteroscarabeus of Late Cretaceous China.
Pleocoma is the only extant genus of rain beetles and is endemic to the Pacific states of North America. Fossil remains of Pleocoma have been found in the Yixian Formation in China, suggesting beetles in this genus have existed in something like their present form since at least the Cretaceous period. There are 27 described species in Pleocoma.
Pleocoma rickseckeri is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma carinata is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma conjungens, the Santa Cruz rain beetle, is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma dubitabilis is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma minor is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma hovorei is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma simi is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma staff is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma octopagina is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma sonomae is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma hirticollis is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma fimbriata is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma rubiginosa is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma oregonensis is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma blaisdelli is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma badia is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma hoppingi is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
Pleocoma puncticollis, the black rain beetle, is a species of rain beetle in the family Pleocomidae. It is found in North America.
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