Odontotaenius disjunctus

Patent-leather beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Passalidae
Genus:	Odontotaenius
Species:	O. disjunctus
Binomial name
Odontotaenius disjunctus (Illiger, 1800)

The patent-leather beetle or "Jerusalem beetle" (Odontotaenius disjunctus) is a beetle in the family Passalidae which can grow to just over an inch-and-a-half long. They are shiny black and have many long grooves on their elytrae. They have a small horn between their eyes, and clubbed antennae. When disturbed, adults produce a squeaking sound by rubbing their wings on the abdomen. This is called stridulation, and is often easy to hear. This is apparently used for communication between members of the colony, possibly to communicate danger to other beetles.

Patent-leather beetles are usually found under, or inside, old logs or stumps. They eat old decaying wood. These beetles make tunnels in the wood; inside the galleries, the beetles will mate, lay eggs, and raise their young. The adults feed the larvae a chewed-up mixture of wood chips and feces. The larvae cannot feed themselves and take a year to develop.

Adult beetles are often covered by mites.

Many patent-leather beetles may live together in a colony in the same log. Adults can live over a year. Patent-leather beetles like to eat logs of certain trees. Mostly they eat deciduous trees, such as oaks and elm. Wood inhabited by these beetles is usually well decomposed and falls apart readily.

The patent-leather beetle is considered beneficial in its activities to decompose dead wood, and is harmless to humans.

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External links

• Odontotaenius disjunctus on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site