Patrice Bouchard - Book of Beetles: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred of Nature’s Gems

THE BOOK OF BEETLES

A LIFE-SIZE GUIDE TO SIX HUNDRED OF NATURES GEMS

EDITOR

PATRICE BOUCHARD

CONTRIBUTORS

PATRICE BOUCHARD, YVES BOUSQUET, CHRISTOPHER CARLTON, MARIA LOURDES CHAMORRO, HERMES E. ESCALONA, ARTHUR V. EVANS, ALEXANDER KONSTANTINOV, RICHARD A. B. LESCHEN, STPHANE LE TIRANT, STEVEN W. LINGAFELTER

PATRICE BOUCHARD is a research scientist and curator of Coleoptera at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Ottawa.

YVES BOUSQUET is a research scientist at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Ottawa.

CHRISTOPHER CARLTON is a research scientist and director of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge.

MARIA LOURDES CHAMORRO is a research entomologist and curator of Curculionoidea at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (USDA) in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D. C.

HERMES E. ESCALONA is a visiting scientist at the Australian National Insect Collection-CSIRO, Canberra.

ARTHUR V. EVANS is a research collaborator at the Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

ALEXANDER KONSTANTINOV is a research entomologist and curator of Chrysomelidae at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (USDA) in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D. C.

RICHARD A. B. LESCHEN is a researcher at Landcare Research and curator of Coleoptera at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Auckland.

STPHANE LE TIRANT is curator of the Montreal Insectarium.

STEVEN W. LINGAFELTER is a research entomologist and curator of Cerambycidae at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (USDA) in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D. C.

Humans may think they rule the world, but it is beetles that really dominate it. These scuttling creatures make up more than a quarter of the worlds animals and come in a dazzling array of shapes, sizes and colours that entice scientists and collectors across the globe. With 400,000 known species, and scientific estimates that millions more have yet to be identified, their abundance is as indisputable as their wonderful variety.

The Book of Beetles celebrates the beauty and diversity of this marvellous group of insects. Six hundred significant beetle species are covered, from the delicate featherwing beetles to the six-inch-long titan beetles. Each entry includes a population distribution map, a table of essential information, a listing of related species and a description of the specimens importance in terms of taxonomy, rarity, behaviour and scientific significance. Intermixed with the facts are some surprising asides, such as Priacma serratas undeniable attraction to laundry bleach, Manticora latipenniss role in Persian legends as one who devours men or the ability of Nomius pygmaeusthe so-called Stinking Beetleto force the evacuation of an entire village.

Rich photos show the beetles at their actual size and also enlarged to showcase exquisite details, such as the sextet of spots that distinguish the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle or the jagged ridges of the Giant Jawed Sawyer. Based on the most upto-date science and accessibly written, The Book of Beetles will appeal to researchers and armchair coleopterists alike.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by

Ivy Press

210 High Street, Lewes

East Sussex BN7 2NS

United Kingdom

www.ivypress.co.uk

Copyright 2014 The Ivy Press Limited

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage-and-retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Portions of this work were written and prepared by officers and/or employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties and are not copyrightable.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Print ISBN: 978-1-78240-049-3

PDF ISBN: 978-1-78240-231-2

EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78240-232-9

MOBI ISBN: 978-1-78240-233-6

Colour origination by Ivy Press Reprographics

Typeset in Fournier and News Gothic

Distributed worldwide (except North America) by

Thames & Hudson Ltd., 181A High Holborn,

London WC1V 7QX, United Kingdom

This book was conceived, designed, and produced by

Ivy Press

Creative Director PETER BRIDGEWATER

Publisher SUSAN KELLY

Art Director MICHAEL WHITEHEAD

Editorial Director TOM KITCH

Senior Project Editor CAROLINE EARLE

Commissioning Editor KATE SHANAHAN

Designer GINNY ZEAL

Illustrator SANDRA POND

JACKET AND LITHOCASE IMAGES

Klaus Bolte:Agrilus planipennis, Timarcha tenebricosa;

Jason Bond and Trip Lamb: Onymacris bicolor;

Lech Borowiec:Cetonia aurata, Dytiscus marginalis, Pachylister inaequalis, Sphaerius acaroides;

Karolyn Darrow The Smithsonian Institution:Akephorus obesus, Eucamaragnathus batesi, Pasimachus subangulatus, Solenogenys funkei, Tetracha carolina;

Anthony Davies, copyright Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food:Anomalipus elephas, Borolinus javanicus, Brachycerus ornatus, Calognathus chevrolati eberlanzi, Cheirotonus macleayi, Cossyphus hoffmannseggii, Cupes capitatus, Dinapate wrightii, Dineutus sublineatus, Erotylus onagga, Eupatorus gracilicornis, Gagatophorus draco, Geotrupes splendidus, Goliathus regius, Graphipterus serrator, Helea spinifer, Heliocopris gigas, Heterosternus buprestoides, Hexodon unicolor, Hister quadrinotatus quadrinotatus, Lasiorhynchus barbicornis, Lucanus elaphus, Macrolycus flabellatus, Mecynorhina torquata, Necrophilus subterraneus, Nicrophorus americanus, Notolioon gemmatus, Pleocoma australis, Rhipicera femorata, Ripiphorus vierecki, Sandalus niger, Saprinus cyaneus, Spilopyra sumptuosa, Strategus aloeus, Strongylium auratum, Syntelia westwoodi, Taurocerastes patagonicus, Tricondyla aptera, Zarhipis integripennis;

Henri Goulet, copyright Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food:Amblycheila cylindriformi, Broscus cephalotes, Calosoma sycophanta, Cychrus caraboides, Damaster blaptoides, Elaphrus viridis, Helluomorphoides praeustus bicolor;

Vitya Kub and Svata Bl:Juniperella mirabilis;

Ren Limoges:Acrocinus longimanus, Chalcosoma atlas, Chrysophora chrysochloa, Phalacrognathus muelleri;

Kirill Makarov:Lethrus apterus;

R. Salmaso, Archives of the Museo di Storia Naturale of Verona:Crowsoniella relicta;

Udo Schmidt:Batocera wallacei, Hydrophilus piceus, Loricera pilicornis, Megasoma elephas, Paranaleptes reticulata, Siagona europaea;

Maxim Smirnov:Chiasognathus grantii