Trilobite Beetle: An Asian Alien
Known as the trilobite beetle, or trilobite larva, the genus Platerodrilus are a funny looking bunch. They get their street name from their uncanny similarity to the trilobite of prehistoric fame.
There are at least 22 species of Platerodrilus and they predominantly live in Southeast Asia and India. The females are 60-80 mm long and remain in their larval form for their entire lives (neoteny). The males, however, are much, much smaller at just 8-9 mm in length.
The female trilobite beetles retain the larval shape and features and moult every so often as they swell and expand.
These beetles have been known to science and the lay person for many years thanks to their odd appearance but have been little studied and not much is known about them.
There is still controversy over what these trilobite beetles eat; some say they are blood thirsty predators who prey on worms and snails, others believe they are much lazier, munching on fungus and other sedentary stuff. The female’s larval life is of a great deal of interest to geneticists and biochemists who would absolutely love to understand what’s going on.
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Platerodrilus’ tiny little heads are amusing too, they’re very small relative to the body of the beast and they’re fully retractable in case a passing insect eater gets peckish. The pictures below all show females, the males just look like boring normal beetles:
