Paederus

Common card · No. 341323

Paederus is a genus of small beetles of the family Staphylinidae ("rove beetles"). With 622 valid species assigned by 1987 to the subtribe Paederina (Paederus and its close allies), and with all but 148 within Paederus itself, this is a large genus. Due to toxins in the hemolymph of some species within this genus, it has given its name to paederus dermatitis, a characteristic skin irritation that occurs if one of the insects is crushed against skin. A scholarly paper in 2002 suggested that a Paederus species could have been responsible for some of the ten Plagues of Egypt described in the Bible's Book of Exodus. Paederus species are widely distributed around the world.

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