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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Shining Leaf Chafers (Rutelinae) » Rutelini » Rutela » Rutela formosa

Species Rutela formosa

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited

Rutela formosa Burmeister - Rutela formosa

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 Rutelinae (Shining Leaf Chafers)

Tribe Rutelini

Genus Rutela

Species formosa (Rutela formosa)

Other Common Names

Handsome Flower Scarab (HFS) (1)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Rutela formosa Burmeister, 1844

Explanation of Names

formosa (L). 'graceful, beautiful' (2)

Numbers

1 Nearctic sp. (3)

Size

Length: 14-18 mm (1),(BG data)

Range

extreme se FL (parts of Dade and Monroe counties) / Bahamas, Cuba - Map (4)(5)

Habitat

tropical hardwood hammocks (1)

Food

adults feed on pollen of the royal poinciana, Jamaica dogwood, and probably other tropical trees. (1)

Larvae feed on decaying wood, known from old stumps.

Remarks

this tropical species is an excellent flier and almost certainly arrived in Florida without human assistance. (1)

conservation status in FL undetermined (1)(4)

Print References

Jameson, M.L. 1998(1997) Phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Rutelina and revision of the Rutela generic groups (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini). University of Nebraska State Museum Bulletin 14: 1-184.

Works Cited

1.	Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida, Volume IV. Invertebrates. Mark Deyrup and Richard Franz (Eds.). 1994. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. xxx + 798 pp.

2.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.

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.	A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida. Peck & Thomas. 1998. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 180 pp.

5.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

Contributed by v belov on 18 May, 2010 - 4:28pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Arturo Santos
Last updated 27 March, 2024 - 6:31pm

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