Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Hoplia - Monkey Beetles

Coleoptera - Hoplia trivialis Hoplia Beetle - Hoplia dispar Round-Scaled Hoplia - Hoplia dispar Hoplia trivialis? - Hoplia trivialis scarab - Hoplia Monkey Beetle - Hoplia dispar Fort Ord Scarab - Hoplia Scarab Beetle - Hoplia
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Scarabaeoidea
Family Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles)
Subfamily Melolonthinae (May Beetles and Junebugs)
Tribe Hopliini
Genus Hoplia (Monkey Beetles)
Explanation of Names
Hoplia Illiger 1803
from Greek hoplon 'armor'(1)
Numbers
The largest genus of the tribe, with 12 spp. in our area, another 12 in Mexico, 37 spp. in the New World(2), and ca. 250 spp. worldwide (mostly in Eurasia and Africa)(3)
Size
7-12 mm
Identification
Medium-sized, mostly diurnal, flower-loving scarabs. Three-segmented antennal club. Mesotarsal claws distinctive(4)
key to nearctic species(3)
the New World species form three distinct and nearly disjunct groups: (i) western nearctic (5 spp.), (ii) eastern nearctic (7 spp.), and (iii) the neotropical species; the eastern spp. are relatively easy to identify, whereas the western ones are extremely variable and difficult(3)
Range
Eurasia, Africa, and the New World; in our area, 5 spp. are western, 3 are restricted to se. US, and 4 are more widely eastern(3)
Habitat
Meadow-type vegetation, orchards
Food
Adults feed on flowers and foliage, often in groups
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on roots of various plants during the summer, hibernate in a late instar, pupate in soil in spring; adults emerge in spring(5)
Remarks
Some are considered pests of ornamental plants and grapevines, especially H. callipyge
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Composition of scientific words
Brown R.W. 1956. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 882 pp.
2.Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles (by Brett Ratcliffe and Mary Liz Jameson)
3.A revision of the Hoplia of the Nearctic Realm (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
A.R. Hardy. 1977. Occasional Papers in Entomology 23: 48 pp.
4.A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America
Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence. 1961. Row, Peterson, and Company.
5.The Common Insects of North America
Lester A. Swan, Charles S. Papp. 1972. Harper & Row.