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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Blister Beetles (Meloidae) » Meloinae » Eupomphini » Desert Spider Beetles (Cysteodemus) » Inflated Beetle (Cysteodemus armatus)

Species Cysteodemus armatus - Inflated Beetle

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Inflated Beetle - Cysteodemus armatus Cysteodemus armatus (white pruinose form) - Cysteodemus armatus Spotted beetle - Cysteodemus armatus Inflated Beetle - Cysteodemus armatus beetle black - Cysteodemus armatus Cysteodemus armatus? - Cysteodemus armatus Unidentified desert beetle? - Cysteodemus armatus black and white beetle - Cysteodemus armatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Tenebrionoidea
Family Meloidae (Blister Beetles)
Subfamily Meloinae
Tribe Eupomphini
Genus Cysteodemus (Desert Spider Beetles)
Species armatus (Inflated Beetle)
Explanation of Names
Cysteodemus armatus LeConte 1851
Identification
white to yellow-brown incrustation:
Range
Colorado and Mojave Deserts(1)
Season
Feb-Jun (earlier in Colorado Desert than in n. Mojave Desert)(1)
Food
Recorded food plants of adults: most commonly Larrea tridentata, but also a number of other plants (Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus, Chaenactis, Geraea canescens, Palafoxia arida, Gilia, Loeseliastrum matthewsii, Tiquilia). While creosote leaves are dependable even in the driest of years, other plants are likely preferred when available.(1)
Life Cycle
Larvae in subterranean nests of solitary bees(2)
See Also
C. wizlizeni: dorsum shining, deep metallic blue/green/violet, lacking incrustation. Chihuahuan Desert.
Print References
LeConte, J.L. (1851). Descriptions of new species of Coleoptera, from California. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, 5: 125–184. (Brief original description, in Latin, on pg. 158)
La Rivers, Ira (1938). Notes on Cysteodemus in southern Nevada. Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 14(3):124-128. (Full Text)
Leppla N.C. (1976) Habits of the hypertrophic blister beetle, Cysteodemus armatus. The Southwestern Naturalist 21: 49-54 (Full Text)
Pinto, J.D. (1977). Sexual Behavior in the Blister Beetle Genus Cysteodemus (Coleoptera: Meloidae). The Canadian Entomologist, 109(3): 389-396.
Pinto, J.D. (1984). A taxonomic review of Cysteodemus LeConte, Phodaga LeConte and Pleuropasta Wellman (Coleoptera: Meloidae: Eupomphina) with a new generic synonymy. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 86: 127-143. (Full Text)
Internet References
Type - MCZ, Harvard
Works Cited
1.A taxonomic review of Cysteodemus, Phodaga, and Pleuropasta with a new generic synonymy
Pinto J.D. 1984. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 86: 127-143.
2.Field Guide to Beetles of California
Arthur V. Evans and James N. Hogue. 2006. University of California Press.
Contributed by Cotinis on 3 December, 2005 - 6:56pm
Additional contributions by Hartmut Wisch, Mike Quinn, Aaron Schusteff, v belov
Last updated 17 August, 2022 - 10:18pm

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