Bug FAQEastern Ironclad Beetle
Phellopsis obcordata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Zopheridae
The Eastern Ironclad Beetle is about eleven-sixteenths of a millimeter long and its color varies from reddish to brown. It occurs in the eastern part of North America and is native to that region. Historically it was mistaken for the western Phellopsis porcata until a 2008 taxonomic revision separated the two species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its body color can range from reddish hues to brown.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It measures roughly eleven-sixteenths of a millimeter in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range is the eastern part of North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It was historically confused with the similar western species Phellopsis porcata until a 2008 revision clarified the distinction.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 16 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Maine, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Zopheridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phellopsis_obcordata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.