| Phantasis stupida | |
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| Species: | P. stupida |
| Binomial name | |
| Phantasis stupida Kolbe, 1894 | |
Phantasis stupida is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Hermann Julius Kolbe in 1894. It is known from Tanzania and Sudan. [1]
Beetles are a group of 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 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. The largest of all families, the Curculionidae (weevils) with some 83,000 member species, belongs to this order. 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.
Hermann Julius Kolbe was a German entomologist from Halle, Westphalia. He was curator at the Berlin Zoological Museum from 1890 until 1921 specialising in Coleoptera, Psocoptera and the “Neuroptera”. He died in Berlin-Lichterfelde.
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania.
