Other Common Names
Le Scarabée maculé (French). Maculated Scarab (coinage).
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Gnorimella maculosa (
Knoch)
Orig. Comb: Cetonia maculosa Knoch, 1801
Syn: Gnorimus maculosus (Knoch)
Explanation of Names
maculosus refers to spotted (maculate) pattern on pronotum and elytra.
Identification
Medium-sized scarab with prominent
maculations. Bright yellow
pygidium with dark "U-shaped" mark on ventral surface is also distinctive.
Range
e NA (e.TX-FL-NS-MN) -
Map (2)(1)(3), mostly e. of the Miss. R., rare in Gulf states
Food
Adults found on a variety of flowering shrubs and trees, esp. Dogwood, wild rose, other Rosaceae (such as Rubus), tulip-tree (Liriodendron). The beetles presumably take nectar and/or pollen.
Life Cycle
Larvae have been collected from decomposing trunk of Redbud,
Cercis canadensis (4). Dr. Martin MacKenzie (pers. comm. to P. Coin) of the USDA Forest Service in West Virginia found a group of four larvae in a cavity about 25 feet (8 meters) up in a birch,
Betula nigra. He reared three to adulthood.
A correspondent of his reports that the adults come to antifreeze traps set out in woodlands.
Print References
Harpootlian p. 122, fig. 240
(4), see
errata for note on range
Hicks, S.D. 1957. Distribution and Occurrence of
Gnomnella maculosa (Knoch). The Canadian field-naturalist 71: 199-200 (
Biodiversity Heritage Library)
Hicks, S.D. 1960. Canadian specimens of Gnorimella maculosa (Knoch) (Scarabaeidae) with notes on variation. The Coleopterists Bulletin 14: 91–93.
Ritcher, 1966. White grubs and their allies. Oregon State University Press. Describes two third-instar larvae, collected in November from Redbud, Plummer's Island, Maryland. Original reference for association with Cercis canadensis
Staines, C.L., Jr. 1989. Observations on Gnorimella maculosa (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae). Maryland Entomologist 2: 79–89.
Internet References
Insects of Quebec--photos of specimens, showing sexual dimorphism