Placopterus thoracicus

Placopterus thoracicus (Olivier, 1795) Collection information. USA: Georgia: Clarke Co.: 40 individuals from 25 sites. Caught in flight trap from 25 March – 19 May 2020. Distribution. Eastern North America. Saproxylic habits. Larvae and adults prey upon bark beetles, woodboring beetles, and twig nesting wasps in small dead branches of hardwood trees and shrubs (Böving and Champlain 1920; Knull 1932; Foster and Barr 1972); larvae additionally occur within woodier stem galls of cynipid wasps on oak, although food sources in this microhabitat are uncertain (e. g., Eliason and Potter 2000).