Rhipidandrus paradoxus

Rhipidandrus paradoxus is a beetle species in the family Tenebrionidae, first described as Melolontha paradoxa by Palisot de Beauvois in 1818. It is one of approximately 36 documented observations on iNaturalist under the common name "Eastern Rhipidandrus." The genus Rhipidandrus is part of the diverse darkling beetle family, which contains over 20,000 described species worldwide. The specific epithet "paradoxus" suggests some unusual or unexpected characteristic noted by the original describer.