Hister beetle - Hololepta aequalis

Hololepta fossularis

There are two species similar to this in Dillons, but only Hololepta fossularis has very rudimentary beginnings of elytral striae like this specimen

… Jim McClarin, 21 May, 2005 - 10:04pm

Hololepta

This is one of the Hololepta species. Possibilities include H. aequalis, H. fossularis, and H. quadridetata. Probably best just to say Hololepta sp.

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen_WV, 21 May, 2005 - 6:42am

fossularis

Thanks for the genus! Mathches description of fossularis in Dillons.

… Jim McClarin, 21 May, 2005 - 10:12pm

H. aequalis

Downie & Arnett say there are two northeastern species, H. lucida and H. aequalis. H. lucida has a striation that runs along the edge of the elytra full-length, while H. aequalis has only an abortive one that starts at the base and runs 1/4 the length of the elytra or less. Yours looks like H. aequalis as opposed to H. lucida.

Of course it is possible that there are New England records of fossularis that Downie & Arnett didn't know about. This might be a good one to ask Don Chandler about, whether H. fossularis is in the collection he curates.

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen_WV, 16 February, 2006 - 4:37am

Nice job, Stephen!

There is no H. fossularis in the UNH collection, at least none on the checklist. I rarely ask Don Chandler since I can check his checklist as easily as he can.

So this must be H. aequalis. I'll place it where it belongs.

… Jim McClarin, 16 February, 2006 - 5:25am

H. fossularis

H. fossularis is a synonym of H. aequalis

… Jeff Gruber, 6 April, 2007 - 12:07pm

Thanks, Jeff. Nice to get your expert input here.

That explains why the two are never found in the same location, sort of like Clark Kent and Superman :-)

I've just added the synonym to the info page.

… Jim McClarin, 6 April, 2007 - 5:56pm