Potergites senectus
Potergites senectus
Summary
Potergites senectus was a minute eucnemid false click beetle whose body was engineered around protected, tightly folded appendages. Grooves along the prothorax, metasternum and abdomen received the antennae and tarsi, while the pronotum ended in sharp rear angles and the elytra carried fine longitudinal striae. No head is known from the type series, so the feeding structures of the adult remain unobserved.
The larval biology of living Eucnemidae provides the best ecological guide. Most develop inside rotten, fungus-decayed wood, and many appear to exploit fungal tissues or fluids rather than sound timber itself. A saproxylic, fungus-associated larval life is therefore a well-supported inference for P. senectus, although neither a host tree nor a particular fungus can be assigned. The London Clay material is dominated by pyritised thoraces and hindbodies, with elytra preserved in only part of the series.
Quick Identification
Look for: a 2–3 mm eucnemid hindbody with broadly rounded pronotal sides ending in sharp rear angles, a groove for each antenna running near the outer pronotal margin, oblique tarsal grooves on the metasternum, and paired hind-tarsal grooves on abdominal ventrites two and three. Elytra, when preserved, have nine fine longitudinal striae.
Diagnostic Features
- Pronotal sides are broadly rounded but terminate in acute posterior angles, and the basal margin carries a median truncate lobe.
- Antenna-receiving groove runs along each outer propleural margin, approximately parallel to the pronotal side and deepest anteriorly.
- Metasternum bears an oblique groove on each side running away from the middle coxal cavity for the folded middle tarsus.
- Second and third abdominal ventrites each bear paired longitudinal grooves for the hind tarsi.
- Each elytron carries nine finely and regularly punctured longitudinal striae.
Fossil Details
Similar Species
Recorded Fossil Sites
No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.
References
- Britton, E. B. (1960). Beetles from the London clay (Eocene) of Bognor Regis, Sussex. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 4(2), 27–50 View reference