I am an amateur entomologist from central Arizona who is mainly focused on the tribe Amphidorini (desert stink beetles / pinacate beetles), though I’m now identifying Cryptoglossini as well. Sí puedo entender español pero no puedo hablarlo muy bien.

Feel free to @ me for an ID (especially right now in Spring and Summer since it will take me longer to get through the observations), although I’ll probably only be able to get Eleodes, Trogloderus, Neobaphion, Embaphion, Eleodimorpha, Lariversius, Asbolus, Cryptoglossa, Schizillus, Coelocnemis, and Iphthiminus to species level. I always enjoy to be tagged on an observation for an ID, or to explain an identification of mine, so don’t hesitate for either.

I occasionally identify beetles on Bugguide, so feel free to have me identify something on there as well.

Again, please feel free to tag me, or even message me.

Pfp is Eleodes armata

My images are free to use as long as I get credited.

I am currently writing a guide to all of the species in the tribe Amphidorini, and it will include regional keys that span the entire range of the tribe, though mainland Mexico won’t be very effective, and may result in problems due to undescribed species, and species with very little information. Currently a few regional keys exist for Eleodes, those are: Texas, Arizona, North Dakota, and the Baja California peninsula, with the first three accessible for free, there is also a key to the Blapylis species of the Pacific Northwest. The Arizona key also has separate keys for the other genera. While I do believe that these keys are pretty good, they do come with a few small flaws in my opinion, and so I have created my own versions of all of those as well (with the inclusion of all the other Amphidorini genera as well, not just Eleodes), originally, of course, though the Baja California key is quite similar, but I do believe I have improved all of them (except for the Blapylis one probably, which won’t be entirely original, but based on a different key, to all the Blapylis species by Somerby 1972). All of the keys are currently finished except for one for Northern California, and two Blapylis keys (Northern California and the Pacific Northwest).

While I do hope to sell physical copies of the guide/book, an identical online version will be available for free, and I will link it here on my profile once I’m finished with it, which I predict will happen in 2025.

Also, while I have made a key to every Eleodes species in the U.S. and Canada (with a few inclusions from Mexico), I do not recommend that it is used, as it’s not great, and you would probably be better off just tagging me in an observation.

The key on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mj6v1QlrXKJl6UE5Cz64eetR9PZTL2kF/view?usp=drivesdk

The genus Eleodes (Desert Stink Beetles) is soon to be split (the changes are only waiting to become official). The subgenera Blapylis, Cratidus, Amphidora, Metablapylis, Steneleodes, and Tricheleodes are going to be raised to genera, E. barbata is also going to be placed in its own monotypic genus. The subgenus Caverneleodes will also be split, half of the species will go to Metablapylis, one will remain in Eleodes, now in the subgenus Promus, two new genera will be made, one monotypic, and one with three species, and finally one will be moved to the already existing genus Neobaphion. Also, Amphidora will loose the two species E. nigropilosa and E. subdeplanata to Cratidus, making it monotypic with E. littoralis as the sole species. Some specific epithets will be changed, and overall, nearly half of Eleodes will no longer be Eleodes, although they will all remain in Amphidorini, which will get the name "Desert Stink Beetles" and "Pinacates" as it is the group now commonly with those names in papers. Personally I'm excited for this change, and look forward to it, and I have prepared everything for the taxon changes.

I would suggest that you try to lower your genus level observations down to at least subgenus level (something I've been doing myself for months now), as those that remain at genus level (at least the ones at that level not due to disagreements) will be brought up to tribe level, the AI is usually correct for the highly observed species, so it can usually be trusted, if your not sure, feel free to tag me and I'll have a look.

The paper with these changes: https://keep.lib.asu.edu/system/files/c7/205855/Johnston_asu_0010E_18396.pdf

I use Somerby 1972 to identify Blapylis, while on the west side of California I can usually determine the species with a good dorsal shot, that is not always the case. From Thousand Oaks to San Diego there are essentially only three species present (rarely there are a few others); neotomae, consobrina, and blanchardii, the first is usually separated easily, but the latter two along with occasionally the first require a ventral shot of the head to identify (length and width of the buccal process determines the latter two species and is helpful with neotomae), a side view of the humeral area (the corners of the elytra near the pronotum/thorax) is also helpful. Everywhere across the range of Blapylis one characteristic would make identification much easier and more certain, a dorsal and ventral shot of the parameres of the male, which would require a bit of dissection, although it the specimen wouldn’t be damaged except for one abdominal plate. If you are able to get pictures of this then the key for Blapylis in the paper I originally stated could be used in full. Most of my species level identification of this group I am quite certain of, although I will indicate a bit of doubt with a “probably” or by suggesting another species, which applies to all of my IDs.

Also, I use Doyen 1973 and Aalbu 2005 to identify Coelocnemis and Cryptoglossini respectively.

Me, @reptipods, and @carabid_47 are currently working on a website about Zopheridae, Carabidae, and Tenebrionidae, it primarily focuses on those species in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. I’m mainly just working on Amphidorini for the time being, although I will give some subfamilies brief information. For more info please visit the profiles of either @reptipods or @carabid_47.

The website: https://sites.google.com/view/carabidaeandzopheridae/home

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