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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles (Scarabaeoidea) » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Rhinoceros Beetles (Dynastinae) » Oryctini » Rhinoceros Beetles (Xyloryctes)

Genus Xyloryctes - Rhinoceros Beetles

Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis - male Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis - female Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes thestalus Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis - female Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis Rhinoceros Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis Rhinocerus Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis - male Rhinocerus Beetle - Xyloryctes jamaicensis - male
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 Dynastinae (Rhinoceros Beetles)
Tribe Oryctini
Genus Xyloryctes (Rhinoceros Beetles)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Xyloryctes Hope, 1837.
Explanation of Names
Genus name is Xylo- from Greek, xylon, wood, plus Greek oriktes, a digger (1).
Numbers
Arnett, page 420, lists just one species, jamaicensis, in the genus for North America. (2) Nearctica.com also lists just this one species for North America, but there are actually two (3);
Xyloryctes jamaicensis - Eastern US, west to eastern Texas; Mexico
Xyloryctes thestalus - AZ, NM, Mexico
Latest key is no help in differentiating.
Range
A New World genus with two species in the United States and others in neotropics.
Print References
Harpootlian, p. 112 (4)
Bitar, A & L. Delgado. 2009. A new species of Xyloryctes Hope (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) from Guatemala, with a key to the species. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 63(2):213-217.
Internet References
Ratcliffe, Brett C. 2009. Xyloryctes Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini) in the United States. Qui es et ubi fuisti et quo vadis? Insecta Mundi 0100: 1-11 ([url=http://centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/0100Ratcliffe.pdf]PDF)
Works Cited
1.The Century Dictionary: an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
3.The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska
By Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen
4.Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina
By Phillip J. Harpootlian
Contributed by Cotinis on 12 April, 2004 - 10:27am
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, ceiseman
Last updated 4 November, 2009 - 7:34pm

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