Chrysochus

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Chrysochus
Chrysochus cobaltinus, CA.jpg
Chrysochus cobaltinus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Eumolpinae
Tribe: Eumolpini
Genus: Chrysochus
Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836
Type species
Chrysomela praetiosa
(= Chrysomela asclepiadea Pallas, 1773)
Fabricius, 1792
Synonyms [1]

Chrysochus is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is known from North America, Europe and Asia.

Contents

Etymology

The name of the genus is derived from the Greek word χρυσοχόος (chrysochóos), meaning "goldsmith". [2]

Taxonomic history

In 1836, the genus Chrysochus was first established by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in Dejean's Catalogue des Coléoptères, including the species Chrysomela asiaticaPallas, 1771, C. aurataFabricius, 1775 and C. pretiosaFabricius, 1792 (now Chrysochares asiaticus , Chrysochus auratus and Chrysochus asclepiadeus , respectively). Chrysomela praetiosa was designated as the type species of the genus by Sylvain Auguste de Marseul in 1864. [3]

The generic name ChrysochusChevrolat in Dejean, 1836 is a conserved name. It was threatened by Eumolpus in the sense used by Kugelann in Illiger, 1798, which included Chrysomela praetiosa. An application to conserve Chrysochus and other names by suppressing EumolpusIlliger, 1798 was accepted by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in 2012. [4] [5]

Species

There are at least eight described species in Chrysochus. Six are found in the Palearctic realm, [6] and only two are found in North America.

List of Chrysochus species
Scientific nameAuthorityRangeCommon nameImage
Chrysochus asclepiadeus (Pallas, 1773)Widespread across Europe, also found in Kazakhstan and Turkey 2016 07 16 Chrysochus asclepiadeus.jpg
Chrysochus auratus (Fabricius, 1775)Eastern North AmericaDogbane beetle Chrysochus auratus 1.jpg
Chrysochus brevefasciatus Pic, 1934 [7] Shanghai, China
Chrysochus chinensis Baly, 1859 [8] Central, North and Northeast China, Japan, Mongolia and the Russian Far East Chrysochus chinensis.jpg
Chrysochus cobaltinus LeConte, 1857Western United States and British ColumbiaBlue milkweed beetle Chrysochus cobaltinus, CA.jpg
Chrysochus globicollis Lefèvre, 1888Northeast China, the Russian Far East and North Korea
Chrysochus goniostoma Weise, 1889North and Northeast China, Mongolia, and the Russian Far East
Chrysochus sikhima Jacoby, 1908 [9] Sikkim, India

Another species, Chrysochus mniszechi, was described in 1877 by Édouard Lefèvre, from three specimens he had seen (one in the collection of Georges Mniszech  [ fr ], and two from Henry Deyrolle's). While he did not know where the specimens were collected from, Lefèvre thought that they probably came from North America. [10]

The following species, all from the Oriental realm, were formerly included in Chrysochus. They were transferred to the genera Parheminodes and Platycorynus in 2021: [11]

Biology

All species of Chryochus feed on plants in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) and Asclepiadaceae (milkweed) families. A small mutation has allowed the two North American species, C. auratus and C. cobaltinus , in particular to feed on the plant species containing cardenolides, while all other species of the genus feed on plant species without cardenolides. [14]

Chryochus beetles by location differ in their exoskeleton color due to varying factors such as temperature, humidity, diet, and adaptation to predators. For example, Chryochus larvae as they pupate regulate the chemicals involved in pigment control that depend on the temperature. [15]

Cultural impact

Naturalist and artist Christopher Marley has used species of Chrysochus as the artistic medium in his mosaic art pieces. [15]

References

  1. ↑ Bezděk, J. (2020). "Review of the genus-level names proposed by Johannes Gistel in Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera)". Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae . 60 (1): 173–188. doi: 10.37520/aemnp.2020.011 .
  2. ↑ Chevrolat, L.A.A. (1843). "Chrysochus". In d'Orbigny, C. (ed.). Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 3. Paris: MM. Renard, Martinet et Cie. p. 652.
  3. ↑ Bousquet, Yves; Bouchard, Patrice (2013). "The genera in the second catalogue (1833–1836) of Dejean's Coleoptera collection". ZooKeys (282): 1–219. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.282.4401 . PMC   3677338 . PMID   23794836.
  4. ↑ Moseyko, A.G.; Sprecher-Uebersax, E.; Löbl, I. (2010). "Case 3519 Eumolpus Weber, 1801, Chrysochus Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 and Bromius Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 (Insecta, Coleoptera, chrysomelidae): proposed conservation of usage". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature . 67 (3): 218–224. doi:10.21805/bzn.v67i3.a10. S2CID   83763033.
  5. ↑ ICZN (2012). "Opinion 2298 (Case 3519) Eumolpus Weber, 1801, Chrysochus Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 and Bromius Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 (Insecta, Coleoptera, chrysomelidae): usage conserved". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature . 69 (2): 147–149. doi:10.21805/bzn.v69i2.a6. S2CID   83692416. The Commission has conserved the usage of the generic names Eumolpus Weber, 1801, Chrysochus Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 and Bromius Chevrolat in Dejean, 1836 by suppressing the name Eumolpus Illiger, 1798.
  6. ↑ Moseyko, A. G.; Sprecher-Uebersax, E. (2010). "Eumolpinae". In Löbl, I.; Smetana, A. (eds.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 6. Chrysomeloidea. Stenstrup, Denmark: Apollo Books. pp. 619–643. ISBN   978-87-88757-84-2.
  7. ↑ Pic, M. (1934). "Nouveautés diverses" (PDF). Mélanges Exotico–Entomologiques. 63: 1–36.
  8. ↑ Baly, J. S. (1859). "Descriptions of new genera and species of Phytophagous insects". Annals and Magazine of Natural History . 3. 4 (20): 124–128. doi:10.1080/00222935908697096.
  9. 1 2 Jacoby, M. (1908). Bingham, C. T. (ed.). Coleoptera. Chrysomelidae. Vol. 1. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. London: Taylor & Francis.
  10. ↑ Lefèvre, E. (1877). "Descriptions de Coléoptères nouveaux ou peu connus de la Famille des Eumolpides (2e partie)". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France . 5. 7: 309–326.
  11. ↑ Moseyko, A.G. (2020). "Notes on Asiatic Eumolpinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)". Entomological Review. 100 (6) (published 15 January 2021): 843–862. doi:10.1134/S0013873820060123. S2CID   234621478.
  12. ↑ Jacoby, M. (1884). "Descriptions of new genera and species of phytophagous Coleoptera collected by Dr. B. Hagen at Serdang (East Sumatra)". Notes from the Leyden Museum. 6: 201–230.
  13. ↑ Baly, J. S. (1864). Descriptions of new genera and species of Phytophaga. Stationer's Hall: J.S. Baly.
  14. ↑ Jolivet, Pierre; Verma, Krishna K. (2008). "Eumolpinae – a widely distributed and much diversified subfamily of leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)" (PDF). Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews. 1 (1): 3–37. doi:10.1163/187498308X345424.
  15. 1 2 Gambino, Megan. "10 Gorgeous Mosaics Made From Real Animal Specimens". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2025-10-03.

Further reading

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