Morphology of the larvae and biology of the adults of Psilorrhynchus bifasciatus do not confirm previous hypotheses about systematics and feeding habits (Coleoptera: Cantharidae)
{"title":"Morphology of the larvae and biology of the adults of Psilorrhynchus bifasciatus do not confirm previous hypotheses about systematics and feeding habits (Coleoptera: Cantharidae)","authors":"G. Biffi, L. Migliore, S. Casari","doi":"10.37520/aemnp.2022.003","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Psilorrhynchus bifasciatus (Blanchard, 1844) is broadly distributed through South America, but its biology, behaviour and life cycle are unknown. The most characteristic feature of the adults is slender rostrum, presumably associated to a specialised feeding habit. However, new observations of P. bifasciatus feeding on nectar in inflorescences of Matayba guianensis Aubl. (Sapindaceae) do not support such a hypothesis. Here, we describe and illustrate their early larval instars in details and compare them with the other Chauliognathini. The larvae are remarkably characterised especially by a long and thick pubescence, conspicuous roughness on the head and thoracic terga, and head with sharp lateral projections. These features are unique amongst the known Cantharidae larvae and do not confirm a previous hypothesis of close affinity between Psilorrhynchus Gemminger & Harold, 1869 and bromeliad-inhabiting Chauliognathini species.","PeriodicalId":50901,"journal":{"name":"Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.37520/aemnp.2022.003","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Psilorrhynchus bifasciatus (Blanchard, 1844) is broadly distributed through South America, but its biology, behaviour and life cycle are unknown. The most characteristic feature of the adults is slender rostrum, presumably associated to a specialised feeding habit. However, new observations of P. bifasciatus feeding on nectar in inflorescences of Matayba guianensis Aubl. (Sapindaceae) do not support such a hypothesis. Here, we describe and illustrate their early larval instars in details and compare them with the other Chauliognathini. The larvae are remarkably characterised especially by a long and thick pubescence, conspicuous roughness on the head and thoracic terga, and head with sharp lateral projections. These features are unique amongst the known Cantharidae larvae and do not confirm a previous hypothesis of close affinity between Psilorrhynchus Gemminger & Harold, 1869 and bromeliad-inhabiting Chauliognathini species.
期刊介绍:
An open access journal publishing papers on insect systematics, morphology of adult and immature stages and/or their biology, phylogeny, large-scale catalogues, and general papers on methodology of insect systematics
AEMNP is publishing papers on:
Insect systematics, taxonomy and nomenclature;
Morphology of adult and immature stages and/or their biology with possible applications in taxonomy and phylogeny;
Phylogeny at least partly based on morphological characters (or with morphological characters mapped on the tree);
Catalogues applicable for further taxonomy and biodiversity studies;
General papers on methodology of insect taxonomy.