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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Cleroidea » Checkered Beetles (Cleridae)

Family Cleridae - Checkered Beetles

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Phyllobaenus verticalis (Say) - Phyllobaenus verticalis Lebasiella pallipes (Klug) - Lebasiella pallipes Red and Black Beetle on Euthamia Flowers - Trichodes nuttalli Checkered Beetle - Priocera castanea Cymatodera tricolor? - Cymatodera tricolor Necrobia rufipes? - Necrobia rufipes 5714 Trichodes nuttalli ? Red and Black beetle_dorsal - Trichodes nuttalli Neorthopleura thoracica
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cleroidea
Family Cleridae (Checkered Beetles)
Other Common Names
Checkered Flower Beetles(1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
family classification has been recently revised, with multiple new subfamilies erected(2) (the arrangement still followed here), although only 5 subfamilies are reconized in (3)
Explanation of Names
Cleridae Latreille 1802
Numbers
almost 300 spp. in 36 genera in our area(4), 50 in Canada(5); >3,600 spp. in >330 genera of 12 subfamilies worldwide(2)
Nearctic fauna catalogued in(6)
Overview of our fauna classification adapted from(2); * –taxa not yet in the guide]
Family CLERIDAE
Subfamily THANEROCLERINAE Thaneroclerus · Zenodosus
Subfamily ISOCLERINAE Ababa
Subfamily HYDNOCERINAE Phyllobaenus · Isohydnocera · Wolcottia
Subfamily TILLINAE *Bostrichoclerus · Monophylla · Callotillus · Areodontia · Lecontella · Cymatodera · Cymatoderella
Subfamily CLERINAE Priocera · Perilypus · Opilo · Trichodes · Aulicus · Thanasimus · Enoclerus · Placopterus
Subfamily EPIPHLOEINAE Madoniella · Pennasolis · Pyticeroides · Ichnea
Subfamily TARSOSTENINAE Tarsostenus
Subfamily PELONIINAE Chariessa · Cregya · Pelonium
Subfamily ENOPLIINAE Boschella · *Parapelonides · Pelonides
Subfamily NEORTHOPLEURINAE Lebasiella · Loedelia · Neorthopleura
Subfamily KORYNETINAE Necrobia

====a much more compact classification used in(7)=========
Family CLERIDAE
Subfamily TILLINAE Fischer von Waldheim 1813
Subfamily HYDNOCERINAE Spinola 1844
__Tribe Hydnocerini Spinola 1844
Subfamily CLERINAE Latreille 1802
Subfamily KORYNETINAE Laporte 1836
Size
2-24 mm(4)
Identification
Body usually long and narrow, often colorful, covered with bristly hairs; head usually wider than pronotum; pronotum sybcylindrical and narrower than elytra; antennae vary considerably and are of great diagnostic value within the group
online sources for visual identification:(8)(9)(10)(11)
Range
worldwide, much more diverse in warmer climes; in our area more diverse in the south(4)
Food
insects, esp. wood- and cone-borers; some adults feed on pollen; a few species are scavengers(4)
Enoclerus, Phyllobaenus, Isohydnocera, Cymatodera, and Placopterus spp. have been recorded as gall infiltrators. --J.M. Leavengood
Print References
(12)
Internet References
Checkered Beetles of Texas (Quinn 2021)
(13)
Works Cited
1.A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America
Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence. 1961. Row, Peterson, and Company.
2.Classification, natural history, phylogeny, and subfamily composition of the Cleridae and generic content of the subfamilies
Opitz W. 2010. Entomologica Basiliensia et Collections Frey 32: 31–128.
3.Comprehensive phylogeny of the Cleroidea (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia)
Gimmel M.L., Bocakova M., Gunter N.L., Leschen R.A.B. 2019. Sys. Entomol. 44: 527-558.
4.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
5.The checkered beetles (Coleoptera: Cleridae) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada
Majka C.G. 2006. Zootaxa 1385: 31–46.
6.Catalogue of North American beetles of the family Cleridae
Wolcott A.B. 1947. Fieldiana: Zoology 32: 63–105.
7.Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)
Bouchard P. et al. 2011. ZooKeys 88: 1–972.
8.A guide to the Cleridae of Atlantic Canada, by Christopher Majka
9.Ayres B.D., Barr W.F. (YYYY) Photographs of North American Cleridae associated with conifers
10.Jacques Rifkind's Enoclerus Photographs
11.The checkered beetles (Coleoptera: Cleridae) of Florida.
Leavengood, Jr., J.M. 2008. University of Florida, Gainesville. 206 pp.
12.Preliminary survey of the checkered beetles (Coleoptera: Cleridae) of Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Hernández-May, M.A. et al. 2021. The Coleopterists Bulletin 75(2): 661-669.
13.The Clerid Homepage, by R. Gerstmeier
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Mike Boone, cotinis, Bug Eric, Phillip Harpootlian, Jeff Gruber, Bbarnd, Mike Quinn, Tim Moyer, ceiseman, v belov, onegunah
Last updated 7 November, 2022 - 6:12pm

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