Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Prionus

Which Longhorned Beetle ? - Prionus heroicus Prionus californicus Oregon - Prionus californicus Broad-necked Root Borer - Prionus laticollis Derobrachus spp?? - Prionus imbricornis Prionus imbricornis? - Prionus Big black scarab-type beetle - Prionus laticollis Male, Prionus heroicus? - Prionus heroicus - male Prionus californicus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Cerambycidae (Longhorn Beetles)
Subfamily Prioninae
Tribe Prionini
Genus Prionus
Explanation of Names
Prionus Geoffroy 1762
Greek prion 'saw'
Numbers
16 spp. in 4 subgenera in our area (26 spp. in 5 subgenera in the New World(1), many more in Eurasia) as follows:(2)
subg. Prionus Geoffroy; 12-13 antennomeres, generally distributed
P. californicus Motschulsky (♂ 24-45mm, ♀ 38-55mm) w. NA
P. heroicus Semenov (♂ 27-51mm, ♀ 35-50mm) sw. US (AZ, NM)
P. laticollis (Drury) (♂ 22-32mm, ♀ 31-44mm) e. NA
P. lecontei Lameere (♂ 30-45mm, ♀ 52-60mm) w. NA
P. pocularis Dalman in Schoenherr (♂ 25-38mm, ♀ 28-45mm) e. NA
subg. Homaesthesis LeConte; 12-14 antennomeres, dull, not striolate, central and western US
P. arenarius Hovore (♂ 17-33mm, ♀ 20-24mm) sw. US (TX, NM)
P. emarginatus Say (♂ 17-22mm, ♀ 22-25mm) c. US (CO, WY, NM)
P. integer LeConte (♂ 24-25mm, ♀ 20-22mm) c. US (ID, NE, UT, CO, KS)
P. linsleyi Hovore (♂ 16mm, ♀ 20mm) sw. US (AZ)
P. palparis Say (♂ 24-37mm, ♀ 35-40mm) sc. US (AZ, NM, CO, KS, NE, OK)
P. rhodocerus Linsley (♂ 19-25mm, ♀ 23mm) wc. US (KS, NE, NM, AZ, CO, UT)
P. simplex (Casey) (♂ 22-25mm, ♀ ?mm) c. US (KS)
P. spinipennis Hovore & Turnbow (♂ 20-32mm, ♀ 29-30mm) sw. US (NM, TX)
subg. Neopolyarthron Semenov; 15-20 antennomeres
P. debilis Casey (♂ 20-28mm, ♀ 34-36mm) c. US (IA, IL-LA, TX)
P. imbricornis (Linnaeus) (♂ 24-39mm, ♀ 32-50mm) e. US-TX
subg. Antennalia Casey; 25-30 antennomeres
P. fissicornis Haldeman (♂ 27-36mm, ♀ 32-40mm) c. US (MT-TX)
Identification
Sexual dimorphism obvious. Twelve or more antennomeres; distinctly poriferous in males, less in females:


Key to species in Santos-Silva et al. (2016)(3)
Range
primarily holarctic; in NA, from so. Canada to Mexico + 1 sp. in the Dominican Republic(1)