Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Fungus, Bark, Darkling and Blister Beetles (Tenebrionoidea) » Blister Beetles (Meloidae) » Desert Spider Beetles (Cysteodemus)

Genus Cysteodemus - Desert Spider Beetles

Weird Bug- looks like from space! - Cysteodemus armatus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Tenebrionoidea (Fungus, Bark, Darkling and Blister Beetles)

Family Meloidae (Blister Beetles)

Genus Cysteodemus (Desert Spider Beetles)

Other Common Names

Desert Blister Beetle

Inflated Beetle (1)

Explanation of Names

Author of genus is LeConte, 1851.

cyst, =is, -o (G). The bladder; a bag

demas (G). A living body (2)

Numbers

Nearctica.com lists two species: armatus and wislizeni.

Size

C. armatus: 7-17 mm. C. wislizeni: 10-15 mm

Identification

Resemble spiders. Abdomen inflated, head small by comparison, legs long. Pronotum has spine on each side. Elytra in fused, forming a heavy, sculptured shell, so they are flightless. Published illustrations show C. armatus with light

Range

Includes southwestern United States. C. armatus is found in California, Arizona (print and Internet refernces). C. wislizeni is found from Texas to Arizona (3).

Habitat

Deserts

Print References

Powell and Hogue, p. 294, fig. 318--C. armatus (4)

White, plate 6--C. wislizeni (3)

Arnett and Jacques, #150--C. wislizeni (5)

Internet References

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County--photo C. armatus

Arizona coleoptera--lists C. armatus.

Works Cited

1.	Field Guide to Beetles of California By Arthur V. Evans and James N. Hogue

2.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms By Donald J. Borror

3.	Peterson Field Guides: Beetles By Richard E. White

4.	California Insects By Jerry A. Powell, Charles L. Hogue

5.	Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects By Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Dr. Richard L. Jacques

Contributed by Phillip Harpootlian on 13 April, 2005 - 11:26am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Mike Quinn
Last updated 8 July, 2007 - 2:56pm

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