Texas Beetle Information

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Pleasing Mecas

Mecas pergrata (Say, 1824)

Family Cerambycidae, Subfamily Lamiinae, Tribe Phytoeciini


 

Mecas pergrata (Say)

Kenedy Ranch, Kenedy Co., Texas
March 21, 2006 (Brush Freeman)


Range: South-eastern and South-central US to New Mexico, northeastern Mexico

Adult Activity: March to July (Yanega, 1996)

Larval Hosts: Stems & roots of asters and other Asteraceae (Yanega, 1996)

Similar Species: There are 18 species within Mecas in three subgenera. (Monné & Hovore, 2005). Ten species in two subgenera occur in the U.S.

Texas Taxa:

Mecas cana saturnina (LeConte)
Mecas cineracea Casey
Mecas confusa
Chemsak & Linsley
Mecas linsleyi
Knull
Mecas marginella
LeConte
Mecas pergrata (Say)
Mecas rotundicollis
(Thomson)

Etymology: Mecas pergrata 

meco (G). Long; length
per (L). Through, by means of
grat, -i (L). Pleasing; favor 

Web links: Beetles of Helianthus - Diana Pilson, University of Nebraska

 Biography: Thomas Say (1787 – 1834) - Wikipedia


References:

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 LLC, Boca Raton, FL. xiv + 861 pp.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. v + 134 pp.

Craighead F.C. 1923. North American cerambycid larvae. Dominion of Canada Department of Agriculture Bulletin. 27(New Series–Technical): 1–239.

Hovore, F.T., R.L. Penrose & R.W. Neck. 1987. The Cerambycidae, or longhorned beetles, of southern Texas: a faunal survey (Coleoptera). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 44(13): 283-334, 20 figs.

Knull, J.N. 1975. A new species of Mecas from Texas. Ohio Journal of Science, 75(3): 130-131.

Linsley E.G. &  J.A. Chemsak. 1995. Cerambycidae of North America. Part VII, No. 2. Taxonomy and Classification of the Subfamily Lamiinae, Tribes Acanthocinini through Hemilophini. University of California Publications in Entomology, 114: 1-292.

Monné, M.A. & F.T. Hovore. 2005. Electronic Checklist of the Cerambycidae of the Western Hemisphere. 393 pp.

Solomon, J.D. 1995. Guide to Insect Borers in North American Broadleaf Trees and Shrubs. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 706, Washington, DC.

Yanega, D. 1996. Field guide to northeastern longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, 6: 1-184.


01 Dec 2008  © Mike Quinn / Texas Entomology / Texas Beetle Information