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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Blister Beetles (Meloidae) » Meloinae » Pyrota » Mylabrina Group (Pyrota Mylabrina Group) » Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle (Pyrota insulata)

Species Pyrota insulata - Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Bentsen blister beetle - Pyrota insulata Pyrota insulata (LeConte) - Pyrota insulata Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle - Pyrota insulata Yellow Crescent - Pyrota insulata Meloidae? - Pyrota insulata Please help us to identify this guy. - Pyrota insulata Pyrota insulata * - Pyrota insulata
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
Genus Pyrota
No Taxon (Mylabrina Group)
Species insulata (Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Pyrota insulata (LeConte)
Orig. Comb: Lytta insulata LeConte 1858
Explanation of Names
insula (L). 'an island' (1)
Numbers
~30 spp. n. of Mex. (2)
Size
9-25 mm (3)
Identification
Black elytra with narrow yellow, gold, or orange margins (outer and inner), an apical spot, and a thin longitudinal basal stripe. Legs and abdomen black; head and thorax mostly black with some yellow areas. Amount of black vs. brighter colors is highly variable.
southern pattern:

northern pattern:
Range
SD-CO to ne. Mex. (3)
Season
Feb-Jun (BG data)
Food
Adults feed on nectar, mostly Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) though also observed on Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccafolium) and probably others.
Life Cycle
Attracted to lights, occasionally in large numbers
Remarks
Type Locality: First collected along US-Mexico border (LeConte 1858) by Captain John Pope while conducting the US-Mexico Boundary Survey in the early 1850's.
Print References
LeConte J.L. 1858. Catalogue of Coleoptera of the regions adjacent to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (Series 2) 4: 9-42.
Internet References
Texas Entomology - Mike Quinn, 2010
Type - MCZ, Harvard
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
2.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.
3.A revision of the genus Pyrota. I. The Mylabrina Group (Coleoptera: Meloidae)
Selander R.B. 1982. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 55: 665-717.
Contributed by Joshua Stuart Rose on 10 March, 2007 - 4:24pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn
Last updated 22 January, 2019 - 5:55pm

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