Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 to 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as the Chrysomelidae. The scientific name of this beetle family goes back to a figure from Greek mythology: after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus was transformed into a large beetle with horns.
The Chrysomeloidea are an enormous superfamily of beetles, with tens of thousands of species, mostly in the families Cerambycidae and Chrysomelidae, the leaf beetles.
The musk beetle is a Eurasian species of longhorn beetle belonging to the subfamily Cerambycinae, tribe Callichromatini. Its name comes from the delicate musky smell it emits when menaced.has iridescence tone that changes with the angle of view.has a hard shell around the thorax with hard sharp spines.
The giant Fijian long-horned beetle is native to the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, and is one of the largest living insect species, with specimens around 15 cm long, excluding legs, antennae, or jaws. It is closely related to the Taveuni beetle, which is only marginally smaller. These beetles have powerful jaws, and should be handled with care when alive—when threatened, they produce a loud and fearsome hissing noise by squeezing air out from under their elytra. Various websites and other resources incorrectly indicate that this species is extinct; it is not, though the forest habitat on its home island is somewhat limited, so the beetle is potentially quite vulnerable.
Macrodontia is an American genus of long-horned beetles remarkable for their large size and for the large mandibles of the males in particular.
Cerambyx cerdo, commonly known as the great capricorn beetle or cerambyx longicorn, is a species of beetle in family Cerambycidae. It occurs in North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
The Disteniidae are a small family of beetles in the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, traditionally treated as a group within the Cerambycidae.
Lepturinae, the lepturine beetles, is a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae), containing about 150 genera worldwide. This lineage is most diverse in the Northern Hemisphere. Until recently the subfamily Necydalinae was included within the lepturines, but this has been recently recognized as a separate subfamily. Nine tribes are usually recognized today, with a tenth, Caraphiini, created in 2016. A few genera are of uncertain placement within the subfamily.
The Trictenotomidae are a small family of beetles in the suborder Polyphaga containing fifteen species in two genera. Most species are found in the Oriental realm where they live in montane forest habitats. The family is considered, based on larval characters as well as sequence-based studies, to be closely related to the Salpingidae.
The weaver beetle is a species of beetle from subfamily Lamiinae in long-horned beetle family; it is a North Asia species. Larvae develop in willow trees, rare in birch and poplar.
Trachyderini is a tribe of long-horned beetles in the family Cerambycidae. There are at least 140 genera and 650 described species in Trachyderini.
Anoplophora is a genus of beetles in the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae). They are native to Asia. Most are large and colorful and thus are depicted in artwork and sought after by beetle collectors. The genus also includes several notorious pest insects.
Pogonocherus hispidulus, the greater thorn-tipped longhorn beetle, is a species of flat-faced longhorns beetle in the family Cerambycidae.
Zographus oculator, the Orange-eyed Long-horn Beetle, is a species of flat-faced longhorn beetles belonging to the family Cerambycidae.
Afroartelida quentini is a species of longhorn beetle in the family Cerambycidae found in Malawi. It was described by Vives in 2011.
Elongatocontoderus fuscofasciatus is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and the only species in the genus Elongatocontoderus. It was described by Breuning in 1977.
Dmytro Zajciw was a Ukrainian and Brazilian entomologist, notable for his collection and for his many beetle discoveries. He was born in Velyka Mykhailivka, Ukraine and died in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. He was the author of Two new genera and species of neotropical Longhorn beetles , 1957, Contribution to the study of Longhorn beetles of Rio de Janeiro , 1958, and was the first to describe the genera Adesmoides and Pseudogrammopsis, as well as the species Beraba angusticollis and Mionochroma subaurosum, among many others.
Coptops aedificator, the Albizia long-horned beetle, is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1792, originally under the genus Lamia. It is known from Djibouti, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Oman, Gabon, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. It was also introduced into Cape Verde, Hawaii, and Taiwan. It feeds on Theobroma cacao and several Coffea species, including C. arabica, C. canephora, and C. liberica var. dewevrei.
Nupserha nigricollis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Stephan von Breuning in 1960. The species is approximately 9 millimeters long and is found in India. Its holotype was a male beetle collected by Breuning in Assam in 1960.
