Oak Pinhole Borer vs White-Lined Darkling Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Oak Pinhole Borer White-Lined Darkling Beetle
Scientific Name Platypus cylindrus Eleodes longicollis
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Curculionidae Tenebrionidae
Size 4-6 mm 20-28 mm
Habitat Gardens Deserts & Drylands
Diet Omnivores Detritivores
Regions Europe North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Oak Pinhole Borer

A tiny ambrosia beetle that bores into oak trees and cultivates fungal gardens inside its tunnels. The only European species of its subfamily. Males guard the tunnel entrance.

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Did You Know?

One of the few farming insects in Europe, cultivating fungal crops inside tunnels bored into oak wood.

White-Lined Darkling Beetle

A smooth, elongated darkling beetle with a distinctively long pronotum. It is common in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts.

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Did You Know?

Like other Eleodes, it performs a headstand to spray noxious chemicals at attackers.