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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Buprestoidea » Metallic Wood-boring Beetles (Buprestidae) » Polycestinae » Acmaeoderini » Acmaeoderina » Acmaeodera

Genus Acmaeodera

Acmaeodera on Eriophyllum confertiflorum - Acmaeodera hepburnii Acmaeodera amplicollis LeConte - Acmaeodera amplicollis Acmaeodera scalaris Mannerheim - Acmaeodera scalaris Acmaeodera gillespiensis Knull - Acmaeodera gillespiensis Acmaeodera gibbula Acmaeodera riograndei - female Acmaeodera resplendens Acmaeodera, found on Lupinus - Acmaeodera lupinae
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 Buprestidae (Metallic Wood-boring Beetles)
Subfamily Polycestinae
Tribe Acmaeoderini
Subtribe Acmaeoderina
Genus Acmaeodera
Other Common Names
Yellow-marked Buprestids, Spotted Flower Buprestids
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Acmaeodera Eschscholtz 1829
Numbers
144 spp. in 2 subgenera in our area(1), >500 worldwide(2)
Identification
According to (1), "ventral surface of body not clothed by a dense tomentum that largely obscures the surface. Pronotum distinctly margined at least in part. Front angles of pronotum in side view are angled. Suture between abdominal sterna 1-2 obliterated or faint. Abdominal sterna 3-5 in females not distinctly clothed." However, italicized couplet refers to Squamodera, which is currently considered a subgenus of Acmaeodera.
old key to spp. in (3) • key to eastern spp. in (4)
Range
worldwide except Australasia(2); widespread in NA, by far more diverse in the southwest(1)
Habitat
usually seen on flowers(1)
Food
host plant info here(5)
Remarks
Some are pests of timber
Most beetles, including most buprestids, fly with their elytra held out and vibrating their hindwings to give lift and thrust. Acmaeodera, however, fly with their hind wings only — the elytra are fused down the center and form a shield over the insect's abdomen, even during flight. This fact, combined with the banding across the abdomen which is common (though not universal) in this genus, gives many of them a distinct wasp-like appearance when in flight.(6)
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.Synopsis of the species of Acmaeodera of America North of Mexico.
Fall, H.C. 1899. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 7(1): 1-37.
4.Acmaeodera (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): A new species of Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, 1829 from the southwestern United States...
Hansen J.A. 2023. Insecta Mundi 1012: 1–52.
5.Bellamy C.L. The Buprestidae of North America (north of Mexico)
6.Wikipedia
Contributed by Cotinis on 23 March, 2004 - 9:40am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Robert Lord Zimlich, v belov, Arturo Santos, Joel DuBois
Last updated 1 December, 2023 - 8:27am

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