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Blosyropus spinosus

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Species of beetle

Blosyropus spinosus
Dorsal view of a Blosyropus spinosus specimen in the Whanganui Regional Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Cerambycidae
Subfamily: Cerambycinae
Tribe: Phlyctaenodini
Genus: Blosyropus
Species: B. spinosus
Binomial name
Blosyropus spinosus
Redtenbacher, 1868

Blosyropus spinosus, also known as the spiny longhorn or spiny silver-pine borer, is a rare species of longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. It has no specific Māori name, but the term for large longhorns of this type are howaka and kapapa.

Taxonomy

B. spinosus was first described in 1868 by Ludwig Redtenbacher in his Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde. The genus Blosyropus is often referred to within the subfamily Lepturinae, but is now considered to be in the Cerambycinae and the tribe Phlyctaenodini.

Description

B. spinosus is one of the largest endemic beetles in New Zealand, growing to around 46 mm long. It is nocturnal, and flightless. The hind wings are shortened or completely reduced in both sexes in this genus. Blosyropus spinosus is dark brown in colour with yellowish hairs on its body. Its key distinguishing characteristic is a single short spine on each side of its head above the eyes and behind the antennae. There are four spines midway along the pronotum (thorax) in front of the elytra.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.

Habitat

B. spinosus has been found in forest in many areas of New Zealand. Its larvae have been discovered in rotting logs of a variety of trees including tawa, Dracophyllum, pōhutukawa, manoao (silver pine), and red beech, as well as in podocarp forest. It is a Category I (indeterminate status) Threatened Species.

Behaviour

The adult beetle is attracted to lights. Eggs are laid towards the top of the tree and the larva tunnel downwards as they feed on the rotting wood. Pupation occurs in a large pupal chamber at the base of the tree. This pupal chamber opens to the outside but is plugged with coarsely chewed wood that has not been digested by the larva. After completing metamorphosis, the beetle may overwinter or hibernate within the pupal chamber.

  • Male Blosyropus spinosus Male Blosyropus spinosus
  • Head of Blosyropus spinosus in the Auckland Museum collection. Head of Blosyropus spinosus in the Auckland Museum collection.


References

  1. Miller, David (1952). "The insect people of the Maori". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 61 (1/2): 1–61. JSTOR 20703320.
  2. ^ "Blosyropus spinosus Redtenbacher, 1868". New Zealand Organisms Register. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. Felder, Cajetan; Wüllerstorf-Urbair, Bernhard (1861). Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von W. Wien: Kaiserlich-K. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.1597.
  4. Duffy, BAJ (1963). A monograph of the immature stages of Australasian timber beetles (Cerambycidae). pp. 1–235.
  5. Sopow, Stephanie; Gresham, Belinda; Bain, John (2015). "Exotic longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) established in New Zealand". New Zealand Entomologist. 38 (2): 107–125. doi:10.1080/00779962.2014.993798. S2CID 86130081.
  6. ^ Leschen, Richard A. B.; Beutel, Rolf (2014). Coleoptera, beetles. Vol. 3: Morphology and systematics (Phytophaga). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-11-027370-0. OCLC 878076434.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Marris, John (24 September 2007). "Beetles - What is a beetle?". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  8. ^ "The Conservation Requirements of New Zealand's Nationally Threatened Invertebrates" (PDF). Department of Conservation. Government of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Beetle (Longhorn Spiny) Blosyropus spinosus". Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  10. ^ Crowe, Andrew (2002). Which New Zealand Insect?. North Shore: Penguin. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-14-100636-9.
  11. Stephanie L. Sopow; John Bain (14 September 2017). "A checklist of New Zealand Cerambycidae (Insecta: Coleoptera), excluding Lamiinae" (PDF). New Zealand Entomologist. 40 (2): 55–71. doi:10.1080/00779962.2017.1357423. ISSN 0077-9962. Wikidata Q56166058.
  12. McGuinness, Carl A. (2001). The conservation requirements of New Zealand's nationally threatened invertebrates. Wellington, New Zealand: Biodiversity Recovery Unit, Dept. of Conservation. ISBN 0-478-22048-0. OCLC 49672723.
  13. ^ Morgan, F. David (1960). "The Comparative Biologies of Certain New Zealand Cerambycidae". New Zealand Entomologist. 2 (5): 26–34. doi:10.1080/00779962.1960.9722791.


Taxon identifiers
Blosyropus spinosus
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