Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Promecognathus

Promecognathus is a genus of ground beetles in the family Carabidae. There are at least two described species in Promecognathus. Both species of Promecognathus are known to predate upon Xystocheir dissecta, which is a species of flat-backed millipede that produces hydrogen cyanide as a chemical defense. The beetles do not avoid exposure to the defense, meaning they are likely physically resistant to hydrogen cyanide.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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199 w
Citations
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Source
Promecognathus
Promecognathus crassus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Adephaga
Family: Carabidae
Tribe: Promecognathini
Genus: Promecognathus
Chaudoir, 1846

Promecognathus is a genus of ground beetles in the family Carabidae. There are at least two described species in Promecognathus.1234 Both species of Promecognathus are known to predate upon Xystocheir dissecta, which is a species of flat-backed millipede that produces hydrogen cyanide as a chemical defense. The beetles do not avoid exposure to the defense, meaning they are likely physically resistant to hydrogen cyanide.5

Species

These two species belong to the genus Promecognathus:

References

References

  1. "Promecognathus Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  2. "Promecognathus". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  3. Bousquet, Yves (2012). "Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico". ZooKeys (245): 1–1722. doi:10.3897/zookeys.245.3416. PMC 3577090. PMID 23431087.
  4. Ricciuti, Ed. "These Beetles Withstand Cyanide Blasts to Eat Millipedes". Entomology Today. Entomological Society of America. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
Further reading

Further reading

  • Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2017). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 1: Archostemata - Myxophaga - Adephaga. Apollo Books. ISBN 978-90-04-33029-0.
External links