Genus Pelidnota

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Grapevine Beetle - Pelidnota punctata - male

May Beetle or Dung Beetle - Pelidnota punctata

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

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

Superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles)

Family Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles)

Subfamily Rutelinae (Shining Leaf Chafers)

Tribe Rutelini

Genus Pelidnota

Explanation of Names

Author of genus is MacLeay, 1817. Pelidnota is from Greek pelion, livid (meaning discolored: ashen, gray, or lead-colored--or black-and-blue), plus Greek suffix -ota, made. (1) (and Internet searches)

Numbers

Nearctica.com lists three North American species: Pelidnota lucae LeConte 1863, P. lugubris LeConte 1874, P. punctatus Linnaeus 1758

Remarks

I can find little information on members of this genus other than P. punctata, a common eastern species. P. lugubris appears to range from Arizona into the neotropics--I see references to it from Arizona and Venezuela on the Internet. I can find no useful references on the Internet to P. lucae, other than its presence in some museum collections and on checklists for the New World, such as: Catalog of Pelidnota and Related Genera

There was formerly a Pelidnota lutea listed for the eastern United States, e.g., Brimley, p. 206 (2). This has been subsumed into Pelidnota punctata, according to Catalog of Pelidnota and Related Genera and Harpootlian, p. 104 (3). Perhaps this represented a form with different colored legs? See photos for P. punctata.

Cotalpa, Pelidnota, and Parastasia, (among others) comprise the tribe Rutelini in the subfamily Rutelinae of the scarab beetles.

Print References

Harpootlian, p. 104 (3)

Internet References

Catalog of Pelidnota and Related Genera

Checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of the Nearctic Realm

Arizona Coleoptera--P. lugrubris on a checklist

Works Cited

1.	The Century Dictionary: an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language

2.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

3.	Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina By Phillip J. Harpootlian

Contributed by Cotinis on 3 April, 2004 - 11:39pm
Last updated 10 July, 2005 - 6:22am

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