Prionotheca coronata - Urchin Beetle

[Sabina A]

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between a male and a female of the species Prionotheca coronata? Otherwise known as the Urchin Beetle.

This is for a research project I am doing in university. Any assistance or experience with the species would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Sabina A

 

[Hisserdude]

Male should be smaller and thinner, the females should be bigger and broader. @Elytra and Antenna may know more, he's kept this species in the past.

 

[Sabina A]

Thank you for the reference to @Elytra and Antenna , however their inbox is full so I cannot start a conversation with them here. I'll still try though.

Would you have a reference to what kind of size each gender would approximately be? Such as: How thin would the beetle be to consider it to be male? Or how broad would the beetle be to considered female?

Thank you @Hisserdude

 

[pannaking22]

Whooaa, those are really cool! I'd read that initially and thought it was a cerambycid, not a tenebrionid. Be neat to have those back in the US hobby again.

In terms of sexing, there's always going to be some variability in size and shape, so it won't always be easy to tell gender at a glance. That'll be something that comes with practice. I'm not sure if there are photos of mating pairs on Google, but that can serve as a good starting point.