Vesperidae

The Vesperidae are a small family of beetles, normally classified within the family Cerambycidae, of heterogeneous aspect but all characterised by larval stages related to roots of herbaceous plants or trees

Vesperidae
Vesperus strepens (Fabricius, 1792)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Suborder:
Polyphaga
Superfamily:
Chrysomeloidea
Family:
Vesperidae

Mulsant, 1839
Subfamilies
  • Anoplodermatinae
  • Philinae
  • Vesperinae

Morphology

Adult

The nocturnal adults are characterised by earthy brown-testaceous colours, brachypterous wings or apterous (especially in females) and physogastry in females. Some tropical genera (Pathocerus) have comb-like antennae, some other (Hypocephalus) extremely reduced antennae. Some genera, such as the Brazilian Migdolus have well-developed mandibles, such as the males of the cerambycids Parandra and Spondylis, while others, such as the males of the genus Hypocephalus, have extremely modified mandibles.

Larva

The larvae have evolved some adaptations to subterranean life. In particular, the Mediterranean genus Vesperus have larvae characterised by a peculiar larval hypermetamorphosis. The larvae I have a normal worm-like aspect (though characterised by abnormally long setae), while those of following stadia have a C-shaped aspect, which makes them similar to the larvae of Melolonthinae.

Systematics

The family includes 3 subfamilies:

  • Anoplodermatinae Guérin-Méneville, 1840
  • Philinae J.Thomson, 1860
  • Vesperinae Mulsant, 1839

In the past, the Vesperini has been placed within Lepturinae, the Anoplodermatini within Prioninae[1] and the Philini a mysterious group related to the Prioninae.[2] Some peculiar larval characteristics of Vesperus has prompted some authorities to separate them as a subfamily and later as a distinct family.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
In 1997 Švácha, Wang & Chen recognised the morphological similarities among these three groups in the larval stadia.[12] More recently, analyses on chromosomes has also evidenced strong differences with respect to Cerambycidae.[13]

References
  1. LAMEERE A., 1913 - Cerambycidae: Prioninae - Coleopterorum Catalogus 52, S. Schenkling, Berlin, 108 pp.
  2. GAHAN C. J., - Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Coleoptera Cerambycidae I - Taylor and Francis Ed., London, 329 pp. PDF
  3. Bense U., 1995 - Longhorn beetles. Illustrated key to the Cerambycidae and Vesperidae of Europe - Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim, 512 pp. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 29, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. San Martín A. F., Bregana M., Irurzun J. I. R. 1997 - Nuevos datos sobre la fauna navarra de longicornios (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae & Vesperidae) - Zapateri: revista aragonesa de entomología 7: 191-208
  5. Jenis I., 2001 - Long-Horned Beetles Distenidae, Oxypeltidae, Vesperidae, Anoplodermatidae & Cerambycidae I, Vesperidae and Cerambycidae of Europe I, A. Regulus, Zlin, 333 pp.
  6. Vanin S. A. & Ide S., 2002 - Classificação comentada de Coleoptera - III. Marco sistemático del proyecto Pribes 2002 PDF
  7. Brustel H., Berger P. & Cocquempot C. 2002 Catalogue des Vesperidae et des Cerambycidae de la faune de France (Coleoptera) - Annales de la Societé entomologique de France (N. S.) 38 (4): 443-461 PDF
  8. Dias M. M. 2004 - Novas ocorrências e descrição da fêmea de Mysteria darwini (Lameere) (Coleoptera, Vesperidae, Anoplodermatinae) - Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 48 (1): 141-143 PDF
  9. Lin, M. Y., Chen, S. K., & Chang, H. Y. 2004. - Morphological and ecological studies of Philus antennatus - Plant Prot. Bull. 46: 177-180 PDF
  10. Machado L. A., Habib M., Leite L. G. & Mendes J. M. 2006 - Estudos ecológicos e comportamentais de Migdolus fryanus (Westwood, 1863) (Coleoptera: Vesperidae), em cultura de cana-de-açúcar, em quatro municípios do estado de São Paulo - Arquivos Do Instituto Biologico (São Paulo), 73 (2): 227-233 PDF
  11. Machado L. A. & Habib M., 2006 - Migdolus fryanus (Westwood, 1863) (Coleoptera: Vesperidae): praga da cultura de cana-de-açúcar - Arquivos Do Instituto Biologico (São Paulo), 73 (3): 375-381 PDF
  12. ŠVÁCHA P., WANG J. J. & CHEN S. C. (1997) Larval morphology and biology of Philus antennatus and Heterophilus punctulatus, and systematic position of the Philinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Vesperidae). Annales de la Societé entomologique de France (N. S.) 33 (3): 323-369.
  13. DUTRILLAUX A. M., MOULIN S. & DUTRILLAUX B. (2007) Presence d’un caryotype tres original a 53-54 chromosomes chez Vesperus xatarti Mulsant 1839 (Coleoptera : Cerambycidae :Vesperinae). Annales de la Societé entomologique de France (N. S.) 43 (1): 81-86. Available in PDF
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