Nemognatha chrysomeloides explained

Nemognatha chrysomeloides is a species of oil beetle (Meloidae) endemic to Central and South America.

Ecology

Nemognatha chrysomeloides is a parasite of Melitoma marginella and M. segmentaria from Mexico to Argentina. Both N. chrysomeloides and Melitoma are restricted to the same host plant – Ipomoea – and so the rate of parasitism may be comparatively high.^[1]

Taxonomy

Nemognatha chrysomeloides was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 work Latin: [[Centuria Insectorum]], under the name Meloe chrysomeloides. It is a very variable species, and as such, many synonyms have since been published:^[2]

• Cantharis chrysomeloides (Linnaeus, 1763): Thunberg, 1784
• Lytta chrysomeloides (Linnaeus, 1763): Schoenherr, 1817
• Nemognathus coeruleipennis Perty, 1830
• Nemognatha versicolor Chevrolat, 1834
• Nemognatha abdominalis Lucas in Laporte de Castelnau, 1859
• Nemognatha bicolor Lucas in Laporte de Castelnau, 1859 (non LeConte, 1853; nec Walker, 1866)
• Nematognatha lucasi Gemminger, 1870
• Nemognatha atra Beauregard, 1890 (non Zonitis atrum Schwartz, 1808; nec Gnathium atrum Dugès, 1889)
• Nemognatha coeruleipennis var. fulviventris Beauregard, 1890
• Nemognatha pallidicollis Beauregard, 1890
• Nemognatha violacea Beauregard, 1890
• Nemognatha beauregardi Pic, 1910 (replacement name for N. atra Beauregard, 1890)
• Zonitis chrysomeloides (Linnaeus, 1763): Denier, 1935
• Zonitis beauregardi (Pic, 1910): Blackwelder, 1945
• Nemognatha chrysomeloides ab. markli Kaszab, 1963

Notes and References

1. Book: E. G. Linsley, J. W. MacSwain & C. D. Michener . 1980 . Nesting Biology and Associated of Melitoma (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae) . University of California Publications in Entomology, Volume 90 . . 0-520-09618-5 .
2. M. García-París, D. Buckley & G. Parra-Olea . 2007 . Catálogo taxonómico-geográfico de los coleópteros de la familia Meloidae de México . . 63 . 2 . 165–258 . . 10.3989/graellsia.2007.v63.i2.92. free . 10261/23551 . free .