Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Glorious Scarab

Chrysina gloriosa (LeConte, 1854)

Family Scarabaeidae, Subfamily Rutelinae, Tribe Rutelini

cf. C. beyeri

(note lamellate antennae, characteristic of all scarab beetles)

Box Canyon, Pima Co., AZ
August 3, 2005 (Bill Bouton)

Texas County Records for Chrysina gloriosa

County Record Data from E.G. Riley, Dec. 2005

Flight Period: June-August (based on 131 specimens in the TAMUIC)

Biology: Adults feed on Juniper foliage. Larvae are abundant in decaying sycamore (Platanus wrightii) logs in southeastern Arizona.

Taxonomy: Hawks et al. (in press) synonymizes the genera Plusiotis and Pelidnotopsis with Chrysina.

Similar Species:

The genus Chrysina includes 95 species (Hawks 2001), most occur in Mexico though the genus ranges from the southwestern United States to northern South America.

Six species occur in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico:

Chrysina gloriosa (LeConte) TX NM AZ n. MEX

Chrysina woodii (Horn) TX

n. MEX

Chrysina lecontei (Horn)
NM AZ n. MEX

Chrysina beyeri (Skinner)

AZ n. MEX

Chrysina erubescens Bates

n. MEX

Chrysina plusiotina (Ohaus)

n. MEX

Website: Plusiotis gloriosa

Photos:

Plusiotis gloriosa LeConte - Edward S. Ross
Chrysina (Plusiotis) gloriosa - Bob Jensen
Chrysina beyeri - Poul Beckmann
Beyer's Scarabs Mating - Bob Jensen
Photo Gallery - Rutelinae - The Insect Company

Bibliography:

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.

Cazier, M.A. 1951. The genera Chrysina and Plusiotis of north central Mexico (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). American Museum Novitates, 1516: 1-8.

Fagerlund, R. 1999. A Preliminary Checklist of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of New Mexico With Notes on Their Distribution. Environmental Services, Physical Plant Dept., The University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Hawks, D.C. 2001. Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in Chrysina and synonymic checklist of species (Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae). Occasional Papers of the Consortium Coleopterorum. 4(1):1-8.

Hawks, D.C., C.S. Babcock & J.M. Heraty. Phylogenetic relationships of Chrysina Kirby (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae), and a comparative method for building character state trees. Systematic Biology. Submitted.

Morón, M.A., B.C. Ratcliffe, & C. Deloya. 1997. Atlas de los Escarabajos de Mexico (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia). Vol. 1. Familia Melolonthidae. CONABIO and Sociedad Mexicana de Entomologia, Mexico. 280 pp.

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.

Young, F.N. 1957. Notes on the habits of Plusiotis gloriosa LeConte (Scarabaeidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin, 11(3-4): 67-70.