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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » May Beetles and Junebugs (Melolonthinae) » Diplotaxini » Diplotaxis

Genus Diplotaxis

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Works Cited

Diplotaxis simplex Blanchard - Diplotaxis simplex - male

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 Diplotaxini

Genus Diplotaxis

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

revised in (1)

Diplotaxis is also a plant genus in the Brassicaceae

Explanation of Names

Diplotaxis Kirby 1837

'double arrangement'

Numbers

105 spp. in our area(2), ~250 total(3), ~50 in TX(4)

Size

4.5‒16 mm(1)

Identification

the only scarabs in the NA that have such a small, well-exposed pygidium(1)

keys to species: New World(1) · e.US(5) · SC(6) · NE(7)

Range

Canada to Brazil; most diverse in Mexico and sw.US(2)

Food

Adults feed on the foliage of various plants(8)

Life Cycle

Adults mostly nocturnal(8)

Remarks

larvae of some species may damage seedlings of commercially grown trees

See Also

Phyllophaga

Print References

(9)

Works Cited

1.	A revision of the genus Diplotaxis (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae), Parts 1 and 2. Patricia Vaurie. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.

2.	Three new species of Diplotaxis Kirby from Guatemala and Mexico (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae), with a key... Delgado L., Toledo-Hernández V.H. 2020. ZooKeys 993: 35‒46.

3.	Catalogue of Life

4.	An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of Texas. Edward G. Riley & Charles S. Wolfe. 2003. Southwestern Entomologist, Supplement. 37 pp.

5.	Diplotaxis of the Eastern United States, with a new species and other notes (Coleop., Scarabaeidae) Vaurie P. 1956. Col. Bull. 10: 1‒9.

6.	Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina Phillip J. Harpootlian. 2001. Clemson University Public Service.

7.	The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen. 2008. University of Nebraska State Museum, Vol 22, 570 pp.

8.	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.

9.	Two new species of Diplotaxis Kirby, 1837, from Arizona with a key and notes on the D. misella group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Davidson J.P., Davidson J.M. 2006. Pan-Pac. Entomol. 82: 74–81.

Contributed by Phillip Harpootlian on 17 February, 2005 - 10:40am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 10 February, 2025 - 8:17pm

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