| Oxypeltidae | |
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| Female of Cheloderus childreni from Chile | |
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| Family: | Oxypeltidae Lacordaire, 1869 |
The Oxypeltidae are a small family belonging to the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, widespread in the Andean region of Chile and Argentina. They have traditionally been considered a group within the Cerambycidae.
The body is massive and characterised by metallic colour, bluish or green on the head and prothorax, and red on the elytra. Their antennae and legs have a blue metallic colour.
The head, round and small, has two robustly toothed antennae, the pronotum is furnished with longitudinal crests, and the elytra, covered by strong puncture, are bidentate at the apex.
The posterior wings, membranous, have an unusual violet colour, while they are transparent or brownish in cerambycids.
The larvae, typically xylophagous, attack trees of the genus Nothofagus , the vicariant of beeches in the Southern Hemisphere. The adults are diurnal and can often be found on leaves.
They have always been a mystery for specialists since these insects do not show any strong resemblance with other cerambycids. At first placed in the Prioninae due to the lateral ridge of the pronotum, the Oxypeltinae have been separated. Saalas' study [1] on the posterior wings of Cerambycids put into light the fact that the wings of the Oxypeltinae were unusually pigmented. More recently, the research work [2] done on the larvae showed a far (and doubtful) relationship with the Vesperidae. Therefore, the group of Oxypeltinae has been recently considered as a different family. [3]
The Oxypeltidae consist of only two genera and three species:
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 and 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 insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous subfamilies are recognized, but the precise taxonomy and systematics are likely to change with ongoing research.
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. The largest families are Cerambycidae, long-horned beetles, with more than 35,000 species, and Chrysomelidae, leaf beetles, with more than 13,000 species.
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 family Oedemeridae is a cosmopolitan group of beetles commonly known as false blister beetles, though some recent authors have coined the name pollen-feeding beetles. There are some 100 genera and 1,500 species in the family, mostly associated with rotting wood as larvae, though adults are quite common on flowers. The family was erected by Pierre André Latreille in 1810.
The Cassidinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. The antennae arise close to each other and some members have the pronotal and elytral edges extended to the side and covering the legs so as to give them the common name of tortoise beetles. Some members, such as in the tribe Hispini, are notable for the spiny outgrowths to the pronotum and elytra.
Spondylidinae are a small subfamily of Cerambycidae including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the coniferous forests of the Boreal hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas, while very few genera are present in Austral Africa and Madagascar. Some sources spell the name as Spondylinae.
The Disteniidae are a small family of beetles in the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, traditionally treated as a group within the Cerambycidae.
The Vesperidae are a small family of beetles, normally classified within the family Cerambycidae, of heterogeneous aspect but all characterised by larval stages related to roots of herbaceous plants or trees
Chrysomela populi is a species of broad-shouldered leaf beetle belonging to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Chrysomelinae.
Clytus rhamni is a species of round-necked longhorns belonging to the family Cerambycidae, subfamily Cerambycinae.
Cheloderus childreni is a species of beetle belonging to the family Oxypeltidae.
Enoplocerus is a genus of longhorn beetles in the subfamily Prioninae of the family Cerambycidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Enoplocerus armillatus, commonly known as the giant longhorn beetle or imperious sawyer.
Parmenolamia unifasciata is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and the only species in the genus Parmenolamia. It was described by Stephan von Breuning in 1950, from a specimen collected in Quang Tre Vietnam.
Hypera nigrirostris, commonly known as the lesser clover leaf weevil, is a species of weevil that is native to Europe and northern Africa and has been introduced to North America and Japan. Both adults and larvae feed on red clover and other plants in the family Fabaceae.
Taeniotes farinosus is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, originally under the genus Cerambyx.
Bucolus fourneti is a native Australian, small, hairy coccinellid beetle approximately 2.1-4.5 mm in diameter. It was described by Étienne Mulsant in 1850
Euporus is a genus of beetles belonging to the large subfamily Cerambycinae in the family of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae).
Zoodes maculatus is a species of Longhorn beetle native to Sri Lanka and India.