Oxypeltidae

Family of beetles

Oxypeltidae

Female of Cheloderus childreni from Chile
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Superfamily:	Chrysomeloidea
Family:	Oxypeltidae Lacordaire, 1869

The Oxypeltidae are a small family belonging to the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, widespread in the Andean region of Chile and Argentina. They have traditionally been considered a group within the Cerambycidae.

Description

The body is massive and characterised by metallic colour, bluish or green on the head and prothorax, and red on the elytra. Their antennae and legs have a blue metallic colour.

The head, round and small, has two robustly toothed antennae, the pronotum is furnished with longitudinal crests, and the elytra, covered by strong puncture, are bidentate at the apex.

The posterior wings, membranous, have an unusual violet colour, while they are transparent or brownish in cerambycids.

Biology

The larvae, typically xylophagous, attack trees of the genus Nothofagus, the vicariant of beeches in the Southern Hemisphere. The adults are diurnal and can often be found on leaves.

Systematics

They have always been a mystery for specialists since these insects do not show any strong resemblance with other cerambycids. At first placed in the Prioninae due to the lateral ridge of the pronotum, the Oxypeltinae have been separated. Saalas' study^[1] on the posterior wings of Cerambycids put into light the fact that the wings of the Oxypeltinae were unusually pigmented. More recently, the research work^[2] done on the larvae showed a far (and doubtful) relationship with the Vesperidae. Therefore, the group of Oxypeltinae has been recently considered as a different family.^[3]

The Oxypeltidae consist of only two genera and three species:

Cheloderus Gray, 1832
- Cheloderus childreni Gray, 1832
- Cheloderus penai Kuschel, 1955
Oxypeltus Blanchard, 1851
- Oxypeltus quadrispinosus Blanchard, 1851

References

^ SAALAS U., 1936 - Über das Flügelgeäder und die phylogenetische Entwicklung der Cerambyciden - Annales Zoologici Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo 4 (1): 1-193.
^ ŠVÁCHA P., WANG J. J. & CHEN S. C., 1997 - Larval morphology and biology of Philus antennatus and Heterophilus punctulatus, and systematic position of the Philinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Vesperidae) - Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N. S.) 33 (3): 323-369.
^ NAPP D. S. 1994 - Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera, Chrysomeloidea) - Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 28 (2): 265-419.

External links

Gallery of Oxypeltidae

Extant Coleoptera families

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Holometabola

Suborder Archostemata
Crowsoniellidae (Crowsoniella relicta) Cupedidae (reticulated beetles) Jurodidae (Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae) Micromalthidae (telephone-pole beetle) Ommatidae

Suborder Adephaga

Extant families	Amphizoidae (trout-stream beetles) Aspidytidae Carabidae (ground beetles) Cicindelidae (tiger beetles) Dytiscidae (predaceous diving beetles) Gyrinidae (whirligig beetles) Haliplidae (crawling water beetles) Hygrobiidae Meruidae (Meru phyllisae) Noteridae (burrowing water beetles) Trachypachidae (false ground beetles)

Suborder Myxophaga
Hydroscaphidae (skiff beetles) Lepiceridae Sphaeriusidae Torridincolidae

Suborder Polyphaga

Bostrichiformia

Bostrichoidea	Bostrichidae (auger beetles) Dermestidae (skin beetles) Endecatomidae Jacobsoniidae (Jacobson's beetles) Nosodendridae (wounded-tree beetles) Ptiniidae (furniture beetles, death watch beetles, spider beetles)
Derodontoidea	Derodontidae (tooth-necked fungus beetles)

Cucujiformia

Chrysomeloidea	Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles) Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) Disteniidae Megalopodidae Orsodacnidae Oxypeltidae Vesperidae
Cleroidea	Acanthocnemidae (Acanthocnemus nigricans) Biphyllidae (false skin beetles) Byturidae (fruitworm beetles) Chaetosomatidae Cleridae (checkered beetles) Lophocateridae Mauroniscidae Melyridae (soft-wing flower beetles) Metaxinidae (Metaxina ornata) Peltidae Phloiophilidae (Phloiophilus edwardsi) Phycosecidae Prionoceridae Protopeltidae Rentoniidae Rhadalidae Thanerocleridae Thymalidae Trogossitidae (bark-gnawing beetles)
Coccinelloidea	Akalyptoischiidae Alexiidae Anamorphidae Bothrideridae (dry bark beetles) Cerylonidae (minute bark beetles) Coccinellidae (lady beetles, or God's cows) Corylophidae (minute fungus beetles) Discolomatidae Endomychidae (handsome fungus beetles) Eupsilobiidae Euxestidae (well polished beetles) Latridiidae (minute brown scavenger beetles) Murmidiidae Mycetaeidae Teredidae
Cucujoidea	Agapythidae (Agapytho foveicollis) Boganiidae Cavognathidae Cryptophagidae (silken fungus beetles) Cucujidae (flat bark beetles) Cybocephalidae Cyclaxyridae Erotylidae (pleasing fungus beetles) Helotidae Hobartiidae Kateretidae (short-winged flower beetles) Laemophloeidae (lined flat bark beetles) Lamingtoniidae (Lamingtonium binnaberrense) Monotomidae (root-eating beetles) Myraboliidae Nitidulidae (sap beetles) Passandridae (parasitic flat bark beetles) Phalacridae (shining flower beetles) Phloeostichidae Priasilphidae Propalticidae Protocucujidae Silvanidae (silvanid flat bark beetles) Smicripidae (palmetto beetles) Sphindidae (dry-fungus beetles) Tasmosalpingidae
Curculionoidea (weevils)	Anthribidae (fungus weevils) Attelabidae (leaf-rolling weevils) Belidae (primitive weevils) Brentidae (straight snout weevils, New York weevil) Caridae Curculionidae (true weevils, bark beetles, ambrosia beetles) Nemonychidae (pine flower weevils)
Lymexyloidea	Lymexylidae (ship-timber beetles)
Tenebrionoidea	Aderidae (ant-like leaf beetles) Anthicidae (ant-like flower beetles) Archeocrypticidae (cryptic fungus beetles) Boridae (conifer bark beetles) Chalcodryidae Ciidae (minute tree-fungus beetles) Melandryidae (false darkling beetles) Meloidae (blister beetles) Mordellidae (tumbling flower beetles) Mycetophagidae (hairy fungus beetles) Mycteridae (palm and flower beetles) Oedemeridae (false blister beetle) Perimylopidae, or Promecheilidae Prostomidae (jugular-horned beetles) Pterogeniidae Pyrochroidae (fire-coloured beetles) Pythidae (dead log bark beetles) Ripiphoridae (wedge-shaped beetles) Salpingidae (narrow-waisted bark beetles) Scraptiidae (false flower beetles) Stenotrachelidae (false longhorn beetles) Synchroidae (synchroa bark beetles) Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) Tetratomidae (polypore fungus beetles) Trictenotomidae Ulodidae Zopheridae (ironclad beetles, cylindrical bark beetles)

Elateriformia

Buprestoidea	Buprestidae (jewel beetles, or metallic wood-boring beetles) Schizopodidae
Byrrhoidea	Byrrhidae (pill beetles) Callirhipidae (cedar beetles) Chelonariidae (turtle beetles) Cneoglossidae Dryopidae (long-toed water beetles) Elmidae (riffle beetles) Eulichadidae (forest stream beetles) Heteroceridae (variegated mud-loving beetles) Limnichidae (minute mud beetles) Lutrochidae (travertine beetles) Psephenidae (water-penny beetles) Ptilodactylidae
Dascilloidea	Dascillidae (soft bodied plant beetles) Rhipiceridae (cicada beetle, cicada parasite beetles)
Elateroidea	Artematopodidae (soft-bodied plant beetles) Brachypsectridae (Texas beetles) Cantharidae (soldier beetles) Cerophytidae (rare click beetles) Elateridae (click beetles) Eucnemidae (false click beetles) Jurasaidae Lampyridae (fireflies) Lycidae (net-winged beetles) Omethidae (false fireflies, long-lipped beetles) Phengodidae (glowworm beetles) Rhagophthalmidae Sinopyrophoridae Throscidae (false metallic wood-boring beetles)
Rhinorhipoidea	Rhinorhipidae (Rhinorhipus tamborinensis)
Scirtoidea	Clambidae Decliniidae (Declinia relicta) Eucinetidae (plate-thigh beetles) Scirtidae

Scarabaeiformia

Scarabaeoidea

Belohinidae (Belohina inexpectata)
Bolboceratidae
Diphyllostomatidae (false stag beetles)
Geotrupidae (dor beetles)
Glaphyridae (bumble bee scarab beetles)
Glaresidae (enigmatic scarab beetles)
Hybosoridae (scavenger scarab beetles)
Lucanidae (stag beetles)
Ochodaeidae (sand-loving scarab beetles)
Passalidae (betsy beetles)
Pleocomidae (rain beetles)
Scarabaeidae (scarabs)
Trogidae (hide beetles)

Staphyliniformia

Histeroidea	Histeridae (clown beetles) Sphaeritidae (false clown beetles) Synteliidae
Hydrophiloidea	Epimetopidae Georissidae (minute mud-loving beetles) Helophoridae Hydrochidae Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles) Spercheidae
Staphylinoidea	Agyrtidae (primitive carrion beetles) Hydraenidae Leiodidae (round fungus beetles) Ptiliidae (feather-winged beetles) Silphidae (carrion beetles) Staphylinidae (rove beetles)