Red flat bark beetle
The red flat bark beetle is a bright red beetle that is as flat as a pancake. Being so flat lets it squeeze under the bark of dead trees. It is a true champion of the cold.
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Fun facts
Its larvae can survive a freezing minus 58 degrees without any problem.
To stop ice forming inside its body, it makes its own antifreeze, a bit like the stuff people put in cars.
Before winter it dries itself out and empties its tummy, so there is less water that could freeze.
It lives under the bark of dead poplar and ash trees.
Its head is shaped like a triangle and its feelers are black.
Most asked questions about Red flat bark beetle
?How does the red flat bark beetle survive winter?
It makes its own antifreeze and dries out its body, so its larvae can survive minus 58 degrees.
?Where does the red flat bark beetle live?
Under the bark of dead poplar and ash trees in North America, as far north as Alaska.
?How big is the red flat bark beetle?
About 1 to 1.4 centimetres long, and very flat.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cucujus clavipes
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Cucujidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Cucujidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Flat bark beetle
Where the facts come from
- Cucujus clavipes (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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