Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Harlequin Flower Beetle

Gymnetis thula Ratcliffe, 2018

Family Scarabaeidae, Subfamily Cetoniinae, Tribe Gymnetini

Gymnetis caseyi Antoine, 2001

Edinburg, Hidalgo Co., TX
March 19, 2005 (Cat Traylor)

Texas County Range Map for Gymnetis thula Ratcliffe

County Record Data from E.G. Riley, Dec. 2005
Ratcliffe (2018) reports El Paso and Lubbock counties as well as other counties within the range prescribed by Riley.

Range:

Gymnetis thula mostly occurs in Texas, with limited records in the following states: Louisiana, Florida, Tamaulipas & San Luis Potosí per Ratcliffe (2018), plus Miss. NSR.

Flight Period:

In 2005, there were 77 G. thula specimens in Texas A&M collection collected between March and December, most from May to September.

Month	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
Texas	1	2	0	14	19	19	6	8	3	0	1
Mexico						4	1

Natural History:

Adults have been taken feeding on ripe fruit, in syrup and fruit traps, and occasionally at lights. Also at sap flows on false willow, Baccharis neglecta. (Ratcliffe 2018).

Larvae:

Ritcher (1966) reported three third instar larvae collected December 31, 1919, at Blue Mott, Victoria Co., TX in rotten moss in a hollow anacua (Ehretia anacua) tree.
Sundberg (pers. comm. to BCR, 2017) reports larvae in tree holes of living mesquite, post oak, and several other trees.

Similar Species:

Ratcliffe (2018) determined 56 spp. within Gymnetis, but only G. thula reaches the U.S.
(Gymnetis sallei has been reported from AZ, but Ratcliffe (2018) found no spmns to confirm this.)

Taxonomy:

Synonyms per Ratcliffe (2018)

    Gymnetis flavomarginata Blanchard, 1842
    Gymnetis sallei Schaum, 1849
    Gymnetis caseyi Antoine, 2001

G. sallei and G. flavomarginatea correctly apply to species that occur in southern Mexico and South America respectively.
G. caseyi wasn't properly described per the ICZN Code so that name is "unavailable"

Web Links:

BugGuide
iNaturalist

Etymology: Gymnetis thula Ratcliffe 2018

gymn (G). Naked, bare
-etta (NL). Small
thula (L). The furthest north

References:

Antoine, P. 2001. Contribution a la connaissance des Gymnetini (Coleoptera, Cetoniidae). Coléoptères 7: 113-136.

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 861 pp.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of word roots and combining forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. v + 134 pp.

Casey, T. L. 1915. A review of the American species of Rutelinae, Dynastinae, and Cetoniinae. Memoires of the Coleoptera 6: 1-394.

Ratcliffe, B.C. 2018. A monographic revision of the genus Gymnetis MacLeay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae). Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum 31: 1-250.

Riley, E.G. & C.S. Wolfe. 2003. An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of Texas. Southwestern Entomologist, Supplement, no. 26. 37 pp.

Ritcher, P.O. 1966. White Grubs and Their Allies, a Study of North American Scarabaeoid Larvae. Oregon State University Monograph Series No. 4: 1-219.

White, R.E. 1983. A field guide to the beetles of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 405 pp.