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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Buprestoidea » False Jewel Beetles (Schizopodidae)

Family Schizopodidae - False Jewel Beetles

Schizopus laetus, female - Schizopus laetus - female Glyptoscelimorpha (Dystaxiella) juniperae - Glyptoscelimorpha juniperae Glyptoscelimorpha (Dystaxiella) juniperae viridceps - Glyptoscelimorpha juniperae - female Glyptoscelimorpha (subgenus Glyptoscelimorpha) marmorata - Glyptoscelimorpha marmorata Beetle? - Schizopus laetus False Jewel Beetle - Dystaxia murrayi Schizopus laetus - male - female Dystaxia elegans ????? - Dystaxia elegans
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)
Superfamily Buprestoidea
Family Schizopodidae (False Jewel Beetles)
Explanation of Names
Schizopodidae LeConte 1859
Numbers
7 spp. in 3 genera total, all in our area(1)(2)
Overview of our fauna updated from(3):
Family SCHIZOPODIDAE
Subfamily SCHIZOPODINAE
Tribe Schizopodini
Genus Schizopus LeConte
      S. laetus LeConte NV-AZ-CA
      S. sallei Horn CA
        S. sallei nigricans Nelson in Nelson & Bellamy
Tribe Dystaxiini
Genus Dystaxia LeConte
      D. elegans Fall CA
      D. murrayi LeConte CA
Genus Glyptoscelimorpha Horn
      G. (G.) marmorata Horn CA
      G. (G.) viridis Chamberlin CA
      G. (Dystaxiella) juniperae Knull CA
        G. (D.) juniperae viridiceps Nelson in Nelson & Bellamy
Size
6.2-18.0 mm
Identification
Distinguished from Buprestidae in having wide metepisternum and deeply lobed fourth tarsomere. Head flat to concave in front.
Range
sw. US (so. NV, sw. AZ, CA) to n. Baja California(3)
Habitat
Desert areas
Food
larvae are presumed to be external root feeders; adults (Schizopus) visit flowers, perch on dry foliage or feed on foliage of presumed larval host(s) (Dystaxia, Glyptoscelimorpha) (C.L. Bellamy, pers. comm. to =v= 8.iii.2011)
Works Cited
1.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.
2.Bellamy C.L. (2013) The world of jewel beetles: A checklist of world Buprestoidea
3.A revision and phylogenetic re-evaluation of the family Schizopodidae (Coleoptera, Buprestoidea)
G.H. Nelson & C.L. Bellamy. 1991. Journal of Natural History 25:985-1026.
Contributed by Jim McClarin on 13 October, 2007 - 3:16am
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Aaron Schusteff, v belov
Last updated 11 September, 2021 - 5:36pm

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