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Asaphidion curtum


This very attractive beetle turned up in my moth trap. At the time I must have felt confident that the ID was clear from the photos I took (all of which are below) as I didn't keep the specimen or any additional notes. Looking back at it now this feels a little careless as this is not generally an easy genus to identify and it's not a particularly common species. Anyway, having reviewed both the Hackston and Duff keys and checked photos online, I think I got it right (though always welcome views of others with more experience). I was in possession of Duff at the time and would likely have checked Hackston online too, and in the absence of any notes to the contrary I am confident that the size would have been within the stated range for curtum. In fact I think pretty much all the other characters given in the key are visible in the photos other than the aedeagus which I don't appear to have examined (maybe it was a female?). Reassuringly the close-up of the pronotom shows a distinct angle at the side bristle, which seems to be one of the clearer pointers to curtum rather than flavipes.

Asaphidion curtum Asaphidion curtum Asaphidion curtum Asaphidion curtum
Asaphidion curtum, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 4th May 2021