Platychelus nitens

Platychelus nitens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Scarabaeiformia
Family: Scarabaeidae
Genus: Platychelus
Species:
P. nitens
Binomial name
Platychelus nitens
(Blanchard, 1850)
Synonyms
  • Dichelus nitens Blanchard, 1850

Platychelus nitens is a species of beetle of the family Scarabaeidae.[1] It is found in South Africa (Cape).[2][3]

Description

Adults reach a length of about 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in). They are similar to Platychelus hoploides, but smaller and more depressed. They are black and shining. The pronotum is convex, shining and hairy, with the hairs black. The elytra are depressed, broad, uni-costate, granulated and black, with the outer part rufous except for the humeral margin. The legs are black. The abdomen is entirely black, and has ashy-grey hairs inwardly.[3]

References

  1. ^ BioLib
  2. ^ Schoolmeesters, P. (2025). "Platychelus nitens at Catalogue of Life". World Scarabaeidae Database (version 2025-10-07). In O. Bánki, Y. Roskov, M. Döring, G. Ower, D. R. Hernández Robles, C. A. Plata Corredor, T. Stjernegaard Jeppesen, A. Örn, T. Pape, D. Hobern, S. Garnett, H. Little, R. E. DeWalt, J. Miller, T. Orrell, & R. Aalbu, Catalogue of Life (2026-01-16). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Catalogue of Life Foundation. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  3. ^ a b Péringuey, L. (1902). "Descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera of South Africa (Lucanidae and Scarabaeidae), Sub-families: Rutelinae, Hopliinae". Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 12: 561–920. Retrieved March 16, 2026. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.