Cetoniidae  

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Rights holder/AuthorSujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul D.N. Hebert, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Sourcehttp://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=2776

Introduction:

Rose chafers, sometimes called flower chafers or flower beetles,(1,2) are a large group of scarab beetles known for their striking colors; they are often bright with a glittering, metallic appearance.(3,4) They have a huge size range, from the massive Goliath beetle—at over 11 centimeters in length, one of the world’s largest beetles—to the tiny species of the subfamily Valginae which are no more than a few millimeters long.(3) This beetle family is so diverse that it contains some 3,600-3,900 species(1,2,3) spread out across the globe(1,4) (although especially in tropical forests(1)), with most of them being endemic (found in only one place).(1) Yet despite the amazing variety among rose chafers, almost all of them—specifically the ones in the very large subfamily Cetoniinae—share a feature called a “posthumeral elytral emargination.”(1,3) This is a change in the structure of the elytra—the hard, strong forewings that protect the more delicate hind wings when the hind wings are folded (5,6)—which allows the hind wings to poke out and unfold without the elytra opening all the way.(1,5,6) This adaptation enables most rose chafers to fly particularly fast.(1) Various kinds of rose chafers have a large number of other special adaptations as well. For example, while most adult rose chafers feed on pollen, nectar, plant sap, and fruits,(1,2,3,7) some have adapted to eat the larvae of ants,(3) while some rose chafer larvae live with insects(3) or even vertebrates such as birds of prey and feed on the material that collects in their nests.(8) Some rose chafers pollinate flowers and so they can be helpful to plants,(4,9) but several members of this beetle group are pests, sometimes damaging flowers(1) such as roses(6) and fruit crops(1,4) such as peaches.(7 )

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorNoah Weisz, Noah Weisz
SourceNo source database.

Rose chafers, sometimes called flower chafers or flower beetles,(1,2) are a group of about 3600-3900 scarab beetle species(1,2,3) that live practically all over the world,(1,4) though with the highest diversity in tropical forests.(1) These beetles are known for their striking colors, often bright with a glittering, metallic appearance,(3,4) and have a huge size range, from the massive Goliath beetle (at over 11 centimeters in length, one of the world’s largest beetles) to the tiny beetles of the subfamily Valginae which are no more than a few millimeters long.(3) In addition to their overall diversity, rose chafers have a very high degree of endemism, meaning that types found in one place are found nowhere else; this is the case for about 90% of rose chafer genera.(1) Despite their widely-varying appearance, the vast majority of rose chafers (specifically all those in the very large subfamily Cetoniinae) share a feature called a posthumeral elytral emargination.(1,3) This is a change in the structure of the elytra (the hard, strong forewings that protect the more delicate alae, or hind wings, when the alae are folded (5,6)) which allows the alae to poke out and unfold without the elytra opening all the way.(1,5,6) This adaptation enables most rose chafers to fly particularly fast.(1) Various kinds of rose chafers have a large number of other special adaptations as well. For example, while most adult rose chafers feed on pollen, nectar, plant sap, and fruits,(1,2,3,7) some have adapted to prey on ant larvae,(3) while some rose chafer larvae live with insects(3) or even vertebrates such as birds of prey and feed on the material that collects in their nests.(8) Some rose chafers serve as pollinators(4,9) and so they are sometimes beneficial to plants, but several members of this beetle group are noted pests of flowers(1) such as roses(6) and fruit crops(1,4) such as peaches.(7)

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorNoah Weisz, Noah Weisz
SourceNo source database.

Statistics of barcoding coverage:

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:1588
Specimens with Sequences:936
Specimens with Barcodes:731
Species:304
Species With Barcodes:214
Public Records:111
Public Species:30
Public BINs:29

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorSujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul D.N. Hebert, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Sourcehttp://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=2776

Flower chafer:

Flower chafers are a group of scarab beetles, comprising the subfamily Cetoniinae. Many species are diurnal and visit flowers for pollen and nectar, or to browse on the petals. Some species also feed on fruit. The group is also called fruit and flower chafers, flower beetles and flower scarabs. There are around 4,000 species, many of them still undescribed.



Overview[edit]

By morphological characters, the adults can be separated from the other scarabs by the combination of the following characters: epipleuron easily recognizable, border lateral of elytra sinuate and antennal insertion visible from above. Six tribes are normally recognized: Stenotarsiini, Schizorhinini, Gymnetini, Goliathini, Cetoniini, and Cremastocheilini, the last four are also found in the New World. The tribe Gymnetini is the biggest of the American tribes, and Goliathini contains the largest species, and is mainly found in the rainforest regions of Africa.

Many species in the tribe Cremastocheilini are known to be predaceous, feeding on hymenopteran larvae or soft-bodied nymphs of Auchenorrhyncha. Spilophorus maculatus has been recorded feeding on Oxyrhachis sp. nymphs[1] while Hoplostomus fuligineus is known to feed on the brood of honey bees in South Africa and the pupae of a wasp Belonogaster petiolata. Campsiura javanica feeds on the larvae of Ropalidia montana in southern India.[2]Cremastocheilus stathamae feeds on ants of the genus Myrmecocystus.[3]

Systematics and taxonomy[edit]

The tribes of subfamily Cetoniinae, with some notable genera also listed, are:[4]

Tribus Cetoniini Subtribus Cetoniina Leach, 1815

Subtribus Leucocelina

Subtribus Cremastocheilini Burmeister & Schaum, 1841

Tribus Goliathini


Mecynorhina ugandensis

Tribus Gymnetini

Tribus Heterorrhinini

Tribus Schizorhinini


Gnorimella maculosa

Tribus Trichiini Fleming, 1821

Tribus Valgini Mulsant, 1842

Other

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ghorpade, K.D. (1975). "A remarkable predacious cetoniid, Spilophorus maculatus (Gory & Percheron), from southern India (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)". The Coleopterists Bulletin 29 (4): 226–230. 
  2. ^ Jeanne, Robert L. & J. H. Hunt (1992). "Beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) in a social wasp nest (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in India". Entomologist's monthly magazine 128: 139–141. 
  3. ^ Cazier, M.A. & Marjorie Statham (1962). "The behaviour and habits of the myrmecophilous scarab, Cremastocheilus stathamae Cazier, with notes on other species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae).". J. New York Ent. Soc. 70: 125–149. 
  4. ^ "Subfamily Cetoniinae Leach, 1815". Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorWikipedia
Sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flower_chafer&oldid=640370022

Depth range based on 1 specimen in 1 taxon.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 19 - 19
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Rights holder/AuthorOcean Biogeographic Information System
Sourcehttp://www.iobis.org/mapper/?taxon_id=830807
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith