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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Fruit and Flower Chafers (Cetoniinae) » Osmodermatini » Osmoderma

Genus Osmoderma

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Works Cited

Some kind of Flower Chafer? - Osmoderma scabra

Osmoderma eremicola - Hermit Flower Beetle - Osmoderma eremicola

Osmoderma subplanata? - Osmoderma subplanata

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 Cetoniinae (Fruit and Flower Chafers)

Tribe Osmodermatini

Genus Osmoderma

Explanation of Names

Osmoderma LePeletier et Serville 1828

Greek osme 'smell' + derma 'skin'(1)

Numbers

3 spp. in our area, 9 total(2)(3)

Size

Circa 20-25 mm

Range

Holarctic(3); in our area, e. NA (O. scabra, O. eremicola, and the similar yet more western O. subplanata) -- all three reach Canada(4)

Habitat

Secluded habitats in hollow trees(5)

Food

Decaying centers of various hardwoods

Remarks

When handled, they emit a strong leather-like odor.(6)

These beetles are considered umbrella and indicator species for many other beetles that dwell in hollow trees.(5)

See Also

Cremastocheilus

Print References

Howden, H.F. 1968. A review of the Trichiinae of North and Central America (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 54: 77 pp.

(7)(8)

Works Cited

1.	Composition of scientific words Brown R.W. 1956. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 882 pp.

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.	Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles (by Brett Ratcliffe and Mary Liz Jameson)

4.	Bousquet Y., ed. (1991) Checklist of the beetles of Canada and Alaska

5.	Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.

6.	Eastern Forest Insects Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.

7.	Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina Phillip J. Harpootlian. 2001. Clemson University Public Service.

8.	The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen. 2008. University of Nebraska State Museum, Vol 22, 570 pp.

Contributed by Cotinis on 18 January, 2005 - 11:15am
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 25 September, 2023 - 12:19pm

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