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Genus Euphoria

Beetle - Euphoria sepulcralis Bumble Flower Beetle pollinating pawpaw - Euphoria inda Euphoria sepulcralis FW7 - Euphoria kernii Hairy red beetle - Euphoria leucographa Euphoria kernii? - Euphoria kernii Euphoria sonorae  - Euphoria sonorae Euphoria sepulcralis maybe - Euphoria sepulcralis
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 Cetoniinae (Fruit and Flower Chafers)
Tribe Cetoniini
Genus Euphoria
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anatropis Casey, Erirhipis Burmeister, Erirhipidia Casey, Euphorhipis Casey, Euphoriaspis Casey, Goraqua Peringuey, Haplophoria Casey, Isorhipina Casey, Parisorhipis Casey, Rhipiphoria Casey, Stephanucha Burmeister(1)
Explanation of Names
Euphoria Burmeister 1842
Numbers
24 spp. in our area, ~60 total(1)
Euphoria anneae - Texas Gulf Coast
Euphoria areata - eastern US
Euphoria basalis - Texas (along border with Mexico)
Euphoria biguttata – Texas, USA thru Honduras
Euphoria canescens – Arizona, USA thru Honduras
Euphoria casselberryi - Texas
Euphoria devulsa – Texas and New Mexico
Euphoria discicollis - central United States
Euphoria fascifera - California, Arizona, and New Mexico
Euphoria fulgida - most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains
Euphoria herbacea - eastern Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas to the east coast
Euphoria hirtipes - Central US
Euphoria inda - United States (widespread)
Euphoria levinotata – Arizona and New Mexico
Euphoria leucographa – Arizona and New Mexico, USA, Mexico and Guatemala
Euphoria limbalis - Florida
Euphoria kernii - Arizona to central United States
Euphoria monticolla - Arizona and New Mexico
Euphoria pilipennis - central United States
Euphoria quadricollis - Arizona
Euphoria schotti - Arizona and New Mexico
Euphoria sepulcralis - most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains
Euphoria sonorae – Arizona and New Mexico, Mexico
Euphoria verticalis - Arizona and New Mexico, Mexico
Size
9-16 mm
Identification
Medium-sized, rather wide and flattened diurnal scarabs. Rather hairy underneath and on sides, giving them a cute, almost teddy-bear appearance. Flight is buzzy, like a bee or fly. Elytra apparently do not open in flight, which perhaps contributes to the buzzy sound--see this illustration of E. fulgida. Seen on flowers or buzzing about forest floors and diving abruptly into leaf litter.
Most eastern species can be told apart at a glance by color pattern: see, from left to right, dorsal views of E. fulgida, E. herbacea, E. inda, E. sepulcralis
Range
across NA and the New World(1)
Habitat
Fields, meadows, thickets
Season
Apr-Jul, some species into Oct in NC
Food
Adults visit flowers (for pollen and/or nectar) and rotting fruit, larvae feed on organic matter in soil
Life Cycle
Larvae usually in decaying wood, vegetation, dung. Eggs deposited in summer near these food sources. Larvae, or perhaps pupae, overwinter. Adults emerge in early summer. Males often seen searching for newly-emerged females. Larvae may be associated with ants and live as scavengers in ant nests (primarily those of Formica obscuripes). "E. inda [...] is commonly seen buzzing over Formica mounds in spring. On descending to the mound it is immediately covered by ants. E. fulgida [...] is much less common and is generally found at Prunus or Amelanchier blooms in the spring." (Insects of Cedar Creek)
Remarks
Skelley (1991) located E. areata (=S. thoracica) larvae in the mounds of the pocket gopher, Geomys pinetus. Published accounts are consistent with respect to spring emergence, presence in sandy habitats, and a potential lack of adult feeding or liquid feeding in this genus (Lago et al. 1979; Skelley 1991).(2)
Print References
Hardy A.R. (1988) Studies in the Euphoriina of the Americas (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). I. Introduction and generic concepts. Col. Bull. 42: 1-9.
Hardy A.R. (2001) Studies in the Euphoriina of the Americans (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) II. Status of names in Euphoria, types and synonymies, with notes on the South American species. Pan-Pac. Entomol. 77: 127-143.
Paulsen M.J. (2002) Obsertations on possible myrmecophily in Stephartucha pilipennis Kraatz (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) in western Nebraska. Col. Bull. 56: 451-452.
Skelley P.E. (1991) Observations on the biology of Stephanucha thoracica Casey (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae). Col. Bull. 45: 176-188.
Works Cited
1.Monographic revision of the American genus Euphoria Burmeister, 1842 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae)
Jesus Orozco. 2012. The Coleopterists Society.
2.The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska
Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen. 2008. University of Nebraska State Museum, Vol 22, 570 pp.