Plains False Wireworm Beetle

Eleodes opaca · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Tenebrionidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Plains False Wireworm Beetle
Photo: Robert Webster, CC BY-SA

The plains false wireworm beetle is also called Eleodes opaca. It belongs to the desert stink beetles in the Tenebrionidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

This beetle is known as the plains false wireworm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives as a desert stink beetle in the Tenebrionidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Plains False Wireworm Beetle photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Plains False Wireworm Beetle photo 3
Photo: Joey M, CC BY
Plains False Wireworm Beetle photo 4
Photo: Joey M, CC BY
Plains False Wireworm Beetle photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Same family (Tenebrionidae)

Red Flour BeetleRed Flour BeetleTribolium castaneumCan damage your homeConfused Flour BeetleConfused Flour BeetleTribolium confusumCan damage your homeRough-haired Lagria BeetleRough-haired Lagria BeetleLagria hirtaObscure Darkling BeetleObscure Darkling BeetleEleodes obscuraYellow Mealworm BeetleYellow Mealworm BeetleTenebrio molitorCan damage your homeSulphur BeetleSulphur BeetleCteniopus sulphureus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleodes_opaca

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.