Zopherus

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Texas ironclad beetle (Zopherus nodulosus)

Zopherus
Zopherus chilensis
Scientific classification
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Genus:
Zopherus

Gray, 1832
Type species
Zopherus mexicanus Gray, 1832
Synonyms

Zopherodes Casey, 1907
Megazopherus Casey, 1907
Zopherinus Casey, 1907

Zopherus is a genus of beetles comprising 19 species. They live in the Americas and are adapted to wood-boring.

Distribution

Bejeweled zopherid beetles

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]

Description

Members of the genus are long and cylindrical, with very thick

thorax. The elytra are fused together, rendering Zopherus species unable to fly.[3][4]

Ecology

Zopherus species are adapted for

single-leaf pine (Pinus monophylla).[2]

Taxonomy

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

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]

Use as living jewels

The species Zopherus chilensis from Yucatán, Mexico has been used in jewelry as living jewels.[5]

Etymology

The name Zopherus is from the Greek: zopher, meaning "dusky" or "gloomy".[1]

Species

Charles A. Triplehorn recognised 19 species in his 1972 monograph:[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mike Quinn (September 6, 2008). "Southwestern Ironclad Beetle Zopherus nodulosus haldemani Horn". Texas Beetle Information. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^
    Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
    . 108: 1–20.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ Observaciones sobre la biología del Maquech, Zopherus chilensis Gray, 1832 (Coleoptera: Zopheridae) en Yucatán, México. Jesús Miss y Enrique Reyes Novelo Con acceso el 14 de junio de 2012.