Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Menimopsis leleupi
Escarabajo tenebriónido, Darkling beetle
eyeless, depigmented and wingless
Soil scavenger; littoral to humid forest zones; January–June, November–December; in litter in deep soil and crevices. The wide distributution of the species in the Galápagos is of note and must have been gained by rafting transport since other mechanisms seem much less likely.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Coleoptera
Suborder
Polyphaga
Superfamily
Tenebrionoidea
Family
Tenebrionidae
Section
Gnathidiini
Genus
Menimopsis
Species
leleupi
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Caecomenemopsis leleupi Kaszab, 1970, fide Peck (2006)
Origin: Endemic
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Española, Gardner at Española, Pinzón, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz
- Franz, H. (1978) Erster Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Bodenfauna der Galapagos-Inseln. Entomol. Blätter 74(1-2): 55-66.
- Kaszab, Z. (1970) Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae. Mission Zool. Belge aux îles Galapagos et en Ecuador (N. et J. Leleup, 1964-1965) 2: 183-210.
- Peck, S.B. Kukalova-Peck J. (1986) Preliminary summary of the subterranean fauna of the galapagos islands, Ecuador. Part II. The insects, evolution, and biogeography. Proc. 9th Intnl. Congr. Speleology, Barcelona 2: 166-169.
- Peck, S.B. (1990) Eyeless arthropods of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador: Composition and origin of the cryptozoic fauna of a young, tropical, oceanic archipelago. Biotropica 22(4): 366-381.
- Peck, S.B. (2006) The Beetles of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity (Insecta: Coleoptera) NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 314 pp.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Menimopsis leleupi", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=12022. Accessed 31 October 2026.