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Subfamily Prioninae

Beetle - What kind? - Prionus pocularis - female Brown Prionid - Orthosoma brunneum Borer - Trichocnemis spiculatus - female Prionus californicus - female bettle - Prionus californicus Female, Nothopleurus lobigenis? - Nothopleurus lobigenis Prionus californicus big chompers - Mallodon dasystomus - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Cerambycidae (Longhorn Beetles)
Subfamily Prioninae
Explanation of Names
Prioninae Latreille 1802
Numbers
37 spp. in 13 genera of 5 tribes in our area; >350 spp. in ~100 genera of 9 tribes in the New World(1); 20 tribes worldwide(2)
Size
our spp. 25-70 mm; world's largest beetles are members of this subfamily
Identification
Large, robust, usually brown to black; antennae long, prominent, sometimes flattened. Often sexually dimorphic; males having large, strong jaws (presumably used in intraspecific fights).(3)
Revisions/keys:(4)(5)
Range
by far more diverse in the tropics (in our area, in so. US) but a few spp. range far north(1)
Habitat
Larvae usually in rotting wood, often wood in contact with soil (roots/stumps)
Remarks
adults nocturnal, come to lights; tree-associated species often have gregarious larvae(3)
Works Cited
1.New World Cerambycidae Catalog
2.Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)
Bouchard P, Bousquet Y, Davies A, Alonso-Zarazaga M, Lawrence JF, Lyal CH, Newton A, Reid CA, Schmitt M, Ślipiński SA, Smith A. 2011. ZooKeys 88: 1–972.
3.Field Guide to Northeastern Longhorned Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
Douglas Yanega. 1996. Illinois Natural History Survey.
4.Illustrated revision of the Cerambycidae of North America. Vol. I, Subfamilies Parandrinae, Spondylidinae, Aseminae, Prioninae
Chemsak A.J. 1996. Wolfsgarden Press, Burbank, ix+150pp., 10 pls.
5.The Cerambycidae of North America. Part II. Taxonomy and classification of the Parandrinae, Prioninae, Spondylinae, and Aseminae
Linsley E.G. 1962. University of California Publications in Entomology 19: 1-102, 1 pl.