Subfamily Prioninae

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Remarks · Works Cited

Large reddish brown beetle - Prionus californicus - female

Huge black beetle, Saltery Bay - Tragosoma harrisii

Big (47 mm long) beetle in Northern New Mexico... cockroach? - Prionus

Longhorned Beetle - Archodontes melanopus

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.

Contributed by Cotinis on 21 July, 2004 - 3:49pm
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, v belov
Last updated 1 March, 2015 - 4:04pm

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