{{Short description|Species of beetle}} {{Speciesbox | name = Red-backed darkling beetle | image = Eleodes suturalis.jpg | taxon = Eleodes suturalis | authority = ([[Thomas Say|Say]], 1823) | synonyms = {{Species list | Blaps suturalis | Say, 1823 | Eleodes texana | LeConte, 1858 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Triplehorn et al. 2015"/> }}
'''''Eleodes suturalis''''' is a species of [[darkling beetle]]. As currently known, it is [[endemic]] to the United States. Their range extends from [[South Dakota]] to [[Texas]] and west to southwestern [[Wyoming]], [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]], and extreme southeastern [[Arizona]],<ref name="Triplehorn et al. 2015"/><ref name=BugGuide/> and probably into Mexico. Males measure {{convert|25|-|36|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} and females {{convert|21.5|–|33.5|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name="Triplehorn et al. 2015"/> They can be easily identified by the distinctive red stripe which goes down the center of their flat [[Elytron|elytra]].
==Ecology== Like other members of the genus ''[[Eleodes]]'', when these beetles feel threatened they raise their abdomen into the air and secrete a foul smelling liquid. Both the larva and adults are herbivorous in nature, eating the seeds of various plants.
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=BugGuide>{{cite web |url=https://bugguide.net/node/view/52519 |title=Species ''Eleodes suturalis'' |website=BugGuide.net |access-date=23 September 2021}}</ref>
<ref name="Triplehorn et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Triplehorn |first1=Charles A. |last2=Thomas |first2=Donald B. |last3=Smith |first3=Aaron D. |name-list-style=amp |title=A revision of ''Eleodes'' subgenus ''Eleodes'' Eschscholtz (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) |journal=Transactions of the American Entomological Society |date=2015 |volume=141 |issue=1 |pages=156–196 |doi=10.3157/061.141.0111|s2cid=86220224 }}</ref> }} * {{aut|Calkins, C.O.}}; {{aut|Kirk, V.M.}} (eds.) 1973: ''Environmental Entomology, Volume 2, Issue 1''.
{{Taxonbar|from=Q48842451}}
[[Category:Eleodes|suturalis]] [[Category:Beetles of the United States]] [[Category:Endemic insects of the United States]] [[Category:Beetles described in 1823]] [[Category:Taxa named by Thomas Say]]
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