{{Short description|Species of beetle}} {{Speciesbox | image = Eleodes obscurus P1050188a.jpg | genus = Eleodes | species = obscura | authority = (Say, 1824) }} '''''Eleodes obscura''''', commonly known as the '''obscure darkling beetle''', is a species of [[darkling beetle]] in the genus ''[[Eleodes]]'' of western North America. It ranges from south-central British Columbia, eastern Washington and Oregon, south to northern Mexico and east to Nebraska, Kansas and Texas.<ref name="Cannings2009">{{cite journal | last1 =Cannings | first1 =Robert A | last2 =Scudder | first2 = G G E | title =Eleodes obscurus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): confirmation of a Canadian population and possible northward expansion from Washington State into British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley | journal =Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia | volume = 106 | pages = 81–82 | date = 2009 | url =https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49640785#page/84/mode/1up | access-date = 2020-09-25 }}</ref><ref name="Peterson2018">{{Cite book|title=Pacific Northwest Insects|last=Peterson |first= Merrill A.|isbn=9780914516187|edition= First|publisher=Seattle Audubon Society |location=[Seattle, WA]|oclc=1031915474|date = 2018-08-31}}</ref>

==Description== ''Eleodes obscura'' is dull, black, {{Convert|23|-|31|mm|1|abbr=on}} long with grooved elytra. Each front femur bears an anterior tooth near the tibia. The pronotum lacks obvious forward projections from the anterior corners.<ref name="Peterson2018"/>

The diet of ''Eleodes obscura'' includes dead plant material, animal remains, roots, and seeds.<ref name="Praeger1982">{{cite book |last= Wallwork | first = John | title = Desert Soil Fauna | publisher = Praeger | year = 1982 | isbn = 0-03-055306-7}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Eleodes obscurus P1050181a.jpg File:Eleodes_obscurus_9940.JPG File:Eleodes_obscurus_9947.JPG </gallery>

==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5359230}}

[[Category:Eleodes|obscura]] [[Category:Beetles of North America]] [[Category:Beetles described in 1824]]