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Genus Temnoscheila

Temnoscheila Bark-gnawing Beetle - Temnoscheila chlorodia Temnoscheila acuta (LeConte) - Temnoscheila acuta Temnoscheila virescens (Fabricius) - Temnoscheila virescens
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cleroidea
Family Trogossitidae
Subfamily Trogossitinae
Genus Temnoscheila
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Temnochila Erichson in Germar 1844, Temnochila, Temnocheila(1)
Explanation of Names
Temnoscheila Westwood 1830
Greek temno (τεμνειν) 'cut' + cheilus 'lip' (refers to notched labium)
Numbers
10 spp. in our area(2), ~110 total(3)
Size
6-23 mm(4)
Identification
pronotum with lateral margins angularly deflexed behind, labium at apex deeply triangularly emarginate, submentum of male with median pit(2)
key to spp. in Barron (1971)(4)
T. omalopha Barron (AZ-NM) note the strongly produced anterior pronotal angles, the shape of the pronotum, and the dull metallic luster
T. chlorodia (Mannerheim) (west of the Great Plains) note impressed frontal line and coarse punctation of head
T. aerea LeConte (CA-AZ) note absence of frontal line
T. acuta LeConte (east of the Great Plains) compare coarse punctation of head and acute anterior pronotal angles with T. virescens
T. virescens (Fabricius) (east of the Great Plains) compare fine punctation of head and rounded anterior angles of pronotum with T. acuta
Range
New World (primarily Neotropical) + 3 spp. in the Palaearctic(3); in our area, across the US (most spp. in the south)(2); one sp. ranges into w. Canada(5)
Remarks
can inflict a painful bite if handled carelessly(6)
Works Cited
1.Synopsis of the described Coleoptera of the world
2.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
3.Trogossitidae: A review of the beetle family, with a catalogue and keys
Kolibáč J. 2013. ZooKeys 366: 1-194.
4.A revision of the Trogossitidae of America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Cleroidea)
J.R. Barron. 1971. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 75: 1-143.
5.Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska. Second edition
Bousquet Y., Bouchard P., Davies A.E., Sikes D.S. 2013. ZooKeys 360: 1–402.
6.Peterson Field Guides: Beetles
Richard E. White. 1983. Houghton Mifflin Company.