The Oxypeltidae are a small family belonging to the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, widespread in the Andean region of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. They have traditionally been considered a group within the
Cerambycidae
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 ...
.
Description
The body is massive and characterised by metallic colour, bluish or green on the head and
prothorax
The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum ( dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron ( lateral) o ...
, and red on the
elytra
An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...
. 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.
Biology
The larvae, typically
xylophagous
Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of wood. The word derives from Greek ''ξυλοφάγος'' (''xulophagos'') "eating wood", from ''ξύλον'' (') ...
, attack trees of the genus ''
Nothofagus
''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...
'', the vicariant of beeches in the Southern Hemisphere. The adults are diurnal and can often be found on leaves.
Systematics
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
The Prioninae are a subfamily of Cerambycidae (long-horned beetles). They are typically large (25–70 mm) and usually brown or black. The males of a few genera sport large mandibles that are used in fights with other males, similar to st ...
due to the lateral ridge of the pronotum, the Oxypeltinae have been separated. Saalas' study 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 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.
[NAPP D. S. 1994 - Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera, Chrysomeloidea) - Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 28 (2): 265-419.]
The Oxypeltidae consist of only two genera and three species:
*''
Cheloderus'' Gray, 1832
**''
Cheloderus childreni'' Gray, 1832
**''
Cheloderus penai'' Kuschel, 1955
*''
Oxypeltus'' Blanchard, 1851
**''
Oxypeltus quadrispinosus'' Blanchard, 1851
References
Related pages
*
Cerambycidae
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 ...
*
Disteniidae
The Disteniidae are a small family of beetles in the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, traditionally treated as a group within the Cerambycidae (most resembling certain Lepturinae such as the genus '' Stenocorus'', but having long fine antennae and s ...
*
Vesperidae
External links
Gallery of Oxypeltidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1040288
Chrysomeloidea
Beetle families
Beetles of South America