''Eleodes'' is a genus of

darkling beetles Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the family is cosmopolitan in distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin gen ...

, family Tenebrionidae. They are commonly known as pinacate beetles or desert stink beetles. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to western North America, with many species found in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

. The name ''pinacate'' is

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of Dialect, dialects and Sociolect, sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in a ...

, derived from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

(Aztec) name for the insect, ''pinacatl'', which translates as "black beetle." ''Eleodes'' species range from 8 to 40 mm in length and are black. All produce

quinone The quinones are a class of organic compounds that are formally "derived from aromatic compounds

uch as benzene or naphthalene Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexand ...

by conversion of an even number of –CH= groups into –C(=O)– groups with any necessary rearrangement of double ...

or similar substances as a deterrent to predators, and many will stand on their heads to spray it. They are found in sandy environments. Some species, such as the Wooly Darkling Beetle or

Eleodes Osculans ''Eleodes osculans'', the wooly darkling beetle or woolly ground beetle, is a common insect in coastal southern and central California in wooded areas or chaparral, and in Baja California. As a stink beetle of genus ''Eleodes'', its easily obser ...

, are capable of flight.

References

External links

Desert USA – Stinkbugs
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6938538 Tenebrionidae genera Gran Desierto de Altar Fauna of the Sonoran Desert Taxa named by Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz

See also

References

External links