Meloid - Lytta stygica - BugGuide.Net

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Moved from Lytta.

… john and jane balaban, 20 January, 2008 - 5:14pm

Lytta stygica vs Lytta chloris

John Pinto's comment on my Lytta stygica photos was "chloris shouldn't be south of the Tehachapi Mts." So I think where your beetle was photographed both Lytta species can occur.

Essig museum Lytta chloris specimens are 98-99% green -- the rest are blue (based on around 270 specimens). Essig museum Lytta stygica specimens are only about half green -- the rest are mostly blue or black (based on >800 specimens).

So, this doesn't really help due to the 1-2% of chloris specimens that are blue, but I was curious to know what the range of colors is in Lytta chloris.

… Joyce Gross, 18 January, 2008 - 3:40pm

Lytta stygica vs Lytta chloris

Hi Joyce :-) Thanks for your comments. Sounds like it's most probably L. stygica then. [Wow...Essig has a lot of Lytta specimens!]

Evans & Hogue(1) state that L. stygica has a "smooth head and pronotum", while L. chloris has "head and pronotum finely wrinkled, appearing satiny" (and also "clear body hairs" in Kern Co specimens). But none of these characters seem definitively decernible to me in my photos, even after cross referencing with the detailed photos from the Harvard MCZ website (follow these links: L. stygica and L. chloris...once there, click on photos to enlarge for details).

… Aaron Schusteff, 19 January, 2008 - 7:30pm

late reply...

I hadn't noticed the bit in Evans & Hogue about the smooth head and pronotum. Thanks for pointing that out. When I was looking at the specimens I kept thinking that there was probably some reason I should pay more attention to the pronotums ... now I know why. Anyway, this is useful information for the future.

… Joyce Gross, 4 February, 2008 - 11:27pm

I would vote for Lytta stygic

I would vote for Lytta stygica based on the color and polished appearance of the head and pronotum in your second picture. John's looked a number of my specimens and the ones from eastern Kern County have all been confirmed as L. stygica. I get L. chloris in the chaparral of the Sierran foothills, where it can be confused with some green specimens of L. rathvoni.

… Dennis Haines, 20 January, 2008 - 4:45pm

Right genus.

I can at least tell you that you have the right genus:-) Lytta is pretty difficult in the west, where there are several similar (and highly variable) species.

… Eric R. Eaton, 26 November, 2007 - 5:50pm

Thanks Eric!

For me, with beetles (and insects in general!) getting to genus is often enough to allow one to learn and appreciate much more...and thus is an accomplishment worthy of gratitude :-)

… Aaron Schusteff, 26 November, 2007 - 5:57pm