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Genus Heterocerus

Dampfius mexicanus (Sharp) - Heterocerus mexicanus

Variegated Mud-loving Beetle - Heterocerus fenestratus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)

Superfamily Dryopoidea

Family Heteroceridae (Variegated Mud-loving Beetles)

Genus Heterocerus

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

the genus was split into multiple genera by Pacheco(1); his classification was adopted in(2)(3)(4), but rejected based on recent analysis(5)(6), with 11 genera erected by him sunk back to Heterocerus(6)

Explanation of Names

Heterocerus Fabricius 1792

Numbers

29 spp. in our area, ~200 total(6)

Size

2.6‒6.9 mm(6)

Identification

see (1); several spp. added since

Range

all continents except Antarctica(6)

Habitat

wide variety of riparian habitats; precise habitat does seem to correlate with species composition at a given location and quite different species were often taken from separate habitats that were physically near one another(6)

Works Cited

1.	Sistemática, filogenia y distribución de los heteroceridos de America : (Coleoptera : Heteroceridae) Pacheco F. 1964. Monografias del Colegio de Post-Graduados 1, Escuela Nacional de Agricultura, Chapingo, Mexico. xii + 155 pp.

2.	A catalog of the Coleoptera of America north of Mexico. Family Heteroceridae. Pacheco, F. 1978. USDA, Agric. Handbook. x + 9 pp. 1978. USDA.

3.	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.

4.	Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska. Second edition Bousquet Y., Bouchard P., Davies A.E., Sikes D.S. 2013. ZooKeys 360: 1–402.

5.	Molecular data resolves relationships within Heteroceridae (Coleoptera: Dryopoidea) King J.G., Starr J.R., Lago P.K. 2011. Syst. Entomol. 36: 435–445.

6.	The variegated mud-loving beetles (Heteroceridae) of Mississippi and Alabama, with discussion and keys to se US spp. King, J.G. and P.K. Lago. 2012. Insecta Mundi 0275: 1-53.

Contributed by Tim Moyer on 26 October, 2009 - 11:27am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 12 March, 2024 - 10:40pm

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