Ironclad beetle (Zopherus nodulosus haldemani Horn)

''Zopherus'' is a genus of

beetle 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 describ ...

s comprising 19 species. They live in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and are adapted to wood-boring.

Distribution

Species of ''Zopherus'' only live in the Americas, where they are distributed from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Ten species live in the United States, five of them in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Description

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

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

s. Indeed, 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 ...

are so thick that it is often necessary to drill a hole in them in order to mount specimens. Species living north of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

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 thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

. The elytra are fused together, rendering ''Zopherus'' species unable to fly.

Ecology

''Zopherus'' species are adapted for boring into wood, some species even being reported to bore into sound wood, rather than only dead wood. ''Z. tristis'' lives under the bark of the desert tamarisk in the

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

, while ''Z. granicollis'' bores into the root crowns of

Jeffrey pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

(''Pinus jeffreyi'') and single-leaf pine (''Pinus monophylla'').

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

taxonomic synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Lin ...

s. The genus was initially erected in 1832 by

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...

, using the spelling ''Zopheros''. This was later emended by Laporte de Castelnau to the more usual

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

''Zopherus''; the authorship should nonetheless ascribed to Gray, and not to Laporte, as many authors have done.

Use as living jewels

The species ''Zopherus chilensis'' from

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

, Mexico has been used in jewelry as living jewels.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.

Etymology

The name ''Zopherus'' is from the el, script=latn, zopher, meaning "dusky" or "gloomy".

Species

Charles A. Triplehorn recognised 19 species in his 1972

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

: *'' Zopherus angulicollis'' Champion, 1884 *'' Zopherus championi'' Triplehorn, 1972 *'' Zopherus chilensis'' Gray, 1832 *'' Zopherus concolor'' LeConte, 1851 *'' Zopherus elegans'' Horn, 1870 *'' Zopherus gracilis'' Horn, 1867 *'' Zopherus granicollis'' Horn, 1885 *'' Zopherus jansoni'' Champion, 1884 *'' Zopherus jourdani'' Sallé, 1849 *'' Zopherus laevicollis'' Colier, 1841 *'' Zopherus mexicanus'' Gray, 1832 *'' Zopherus nervosus'' Solier, 1841 *'' Zopherus nodulosus'' Solier, 1841 *''

Zopherus opacus ''Zopherus'' is a genus of beetles comprising 19 species. They live in the Americas and are adapted to wood-boring. Distribution Species of ''Zopherus'' only live in the Americas, where they are distributed from Venezuela to the southern Uni ...

'' Horn, 1867 *'' Zopherus sanctaehelenae'' (Blaisdell, 1931) *'' Zopherus solieri'' Triplehorn, 1972 *'' Zopherus tristis'' LeConte, 1851 *'' Zopherus uteanus'' (Casey, 1907) *'' Zopherus xestus'' Triplehorn, 1972

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15763557 Zopheridae Woodboring beetles Beetles of North America Taxa named by George Robert Gray