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Species Epicauta immaculata
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Tenebrionoidea (Fungus, Bark, Darkling and Blister Beetles)
Family Meloidae (Blister Beetles)
Subfamily Meloinae
Tribe Epicautini
Genus Epicauta
No Taxon (subgenus Macrobasis)
Species immaculata (Epicauta immaculata)
Other Common Names Immaculate Meloid Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Epicauta immaculata (Say)
Orig. Comb: Lytta immaculata Say 1824
Syn: Macrobasis immaculata (Say) Identification Dets. John D. Pinto Range western edge of the Appalachian Mountains westward to South Dakota and the Rio Grande River (NM-TX-OH-SD) - Map (2)(1), common from KS to the Rio Grande Habitat adults found most frequently and in greatest abundance along roadsides, near ditches, in swales, and in other situations where the amount of soil moisture is sufficient to support the growth of herbaceous plants through the summer season. (2)Food adults are polyphagous feeding on Solanum spp., milkweed ( Asclepias spp.), Asteraceae, Fabaceae as well as members of other plant families. (2)(1)
Life Cycle E. immaculata are known to form nonfeeding aggregations on plants, including species that are apparently never utilized as food sources. The functional significance of this behavior has not been determined, but it seems likely that temperature regulation is involved. (2) Remarks Larson (1943) reports finding the remains of 94 individuals of E. immaculata in the course of examining the stomach contents of 100 individuals of the toad Bufo americanus Holbrook, taken in potato fields at Fort Thompson, South Dakota. (2)
In Miller's (1965) study adults of E. albida, E. immaculata, E. sublineata, and several other species of Meloidae proved to be highly acceptable as food items for caged adults of the horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum Harlan. It was also shown that whiptailed lizards, Cnemidophorus sackii gularis Baird and Girard, would pursue and investigate adult meloids, although they were consistently refused as food, apparently because of chemotactic repellency. (2)Print References Gilbertson, G.I. and W.R. Horsfall. 1940. Blister beetles and their control. South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 340: 1-23.
Larson, N.P. 1943. The common toad as an enemy of blister beetles. Journal of Economic Entomology 36: 480.
Miller, J.L. 1965. Prey-predator interactions between insects (chiefly meloid beetles) and lizards of the genera Phrynosoma, Uta and Cnemidophorus. Unpublished thesis, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois. Works Cited | 1. | The Meloidae (Coleoptera) of Texas
Dillon, Lawrence S. 1952. American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 48, No. 2:330-420. | |
| 2. | Ecology, behavior, and adult anatomy of the Albida Group of the genus Epicauta (Coleoptera, Meloidae).
Selander, R.B. and J.M. Mathieu. 1969. Illinois biological monographs Vol. 41. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. | |
Contributed by v belov on 23 July, 2011 - 10:42am Additional contributions by Mike QuinnLast updated 23 February, 2022 - 6:41pm |
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