| Zopherus | |
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| Zopherus chilensis | |
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| Genus: | Zopherus Gray, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Zopherus mexicanusGray, 1832 | |
| Synonyms | |
Zopherodes Casey, 1907 Contents | |
Zopherus is a genus of beetles comprising 19 species. They live in the Americas and are adapted to wood-boring.
Species of Zopherus only live in the Americas, where they are distributed from Venezuela to the southern United States. [1] Ten species live in the United States, [1] five of them in California. [2]
Members of the genus are long and cylindrical, with very thick exoskeletons. Indeed, the elytra are so thick that it is often necessary to drill a hole in them in order to mount specimens. [3] Species living north of the Rio Grande are almost all uniformly black in colour, while the tropical species are almost all strongly patterned in contrasting black and white. The animal's head is largely hidden by the thorax. The elytra are fused together, rendering Zopherus species unable to fly. [3] [4]
Zopherus species are adapted for boring into wood, some species even being reported to bore into sound wood, rather than only dead wood. [4] Z. tristis lives under the bark of the desert tamarisk in the Colorado Desert, while Z. granicollis bores into the root crowns of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) and single-leaf pine (Pinus monophylla). [2]
The genus Zopherus encompasses species previously referred to three other genera, Megazopherus, Zopherinus and Zopherodes, all of which are now synonymized under Zopherus. Many of the species have also been known by a number of taxonomic synonyms. [3] The genus was initially erected in 1832 by George Robert Gray, using the spelling Zopheros. This was later emended by Laporte de Castelnau to the more usual transliteration Zopherus; the authorship should nonetheless ascribed to Gray, and not to Laporte, as many authors have done. [3]
The species Zopherus chilensis from Yucatán, Mexico has been used in jewelry as living jewels. [5]
The name Zopherus is from the Greek : zopher, meaning "dusky" or "gloomy". [1]
Charles A. Triplehorn recognised 19 species in his 1972 monograph: [3]
Zopheridae is a family of beetles belonging to Tenebrionoidea. It has grown considerably in recent years as the members of two other families have been included within its circumscription; these former families are the Monommatidae and the Colydiidae, which are now both included in the Zopheridae as subfamilies or even as tribe of subfamily Zopherinae. Some authors accept up to six subfamilies here, while others merge all except the Colydiinae into the Zopherinae.
Zopherinae is a subfamily of beetles, commonly known as ironclad beetles. Together with the subfamily Usechinae, they have been treated historically as a family, but have recently been joined by several additional taxa, making the Zopheridae a much larger composite family, and the Zopherinae are now only a small component within it, consisting of seven genera in the tribe Zopherini and one, Phellopsis in its own tribe (Phellopsini).
Zopherus chilensis, also commonly known as the ma'kech or jewelled bug, is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. Despite the name "chilensis", nearly all of the known specimens have been found from Mexico to Venezuela.
Zopherus jansoni is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae.
Zopherus jourdani is a species of ironclad beetle found in Central America. It is found in Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua, and has been collected every month of the year from a variety of altitudes ranging from 2500 to 9800 feet. The species plays dead when disturbed, which earned it the name "Durene Niño" in Costa Rica. It lives under the bark of trees, including the balsa and the pine.
Zopherus laevicollis is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae.
Zopherus nervosus is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae.
Zopherus nodulosus, is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Zopherus xestus is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in North America.
Eleodes is a genus of darkling beetles, in the family Tenebrionidae. They are endemic to western North America ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico with many species found along the Mexico-United States border. Some species have been introduced to Colombia. The name pinacate is Mexican Spanish, derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) name for the insect, pinacatl, which translates as "black beetle."
Melyridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea.
Phaleria is a genus of darkling beetles belonging to the family Tenebrionidae.
Platydema is a genus of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are at least 60 described species in Platydema.
Zopherus uteanus is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in North America.
Zopherus tristis is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Zopherus granicollis is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in Central America and North America.
Zopherus sanctaehelenae is a species of ironclad beetle in the family Zopheridae. It is found in North America.
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