Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn


 Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle

Pyrota insulata (LeConte 1858)

Family Meloidae, Subfamily Meloinae, Tribe Cerocomini


cf. P. palpalis, P. tenuicostatis  

Yellow-crescent Blister Beetle - Pyrota insulata (LeConte 1858)

Utley, Bastrop County, Texas 
April 22, 2007 (Brush Freeman)


Texas County Records for Pyrota insulata

Red-margined Blister Beetle - Pyrota tenuicostatis (Dugès, 1869)

Primary County Record Source: Dillon (1952)


 

Pyrota insulata (LeConte 1858)Pyrota insulata (LeConte 1858)

 

 

Fig. 2: Barr et al. 1998; all else: Champion 1889-1893


Range: Arizona to Texas, north to Wyoming, south to Durango, Mexico.

Flight Period: Begins as early as late February in lower Rio Grande Valley, flies in April and May further north in Texas.

Adult Food: Mainly the blooms of mesquite trees.

Biology: Attracted to lights, occasionally in large numbers

Similar Species: 

There are 40 species of Pyrota restricted to the New World, about 30 in Nearctic.

Texas Taxa:

Pyrota akhurstiana Horn 
Pyrota bilineata
Horn 
Pyrota concinna
Casey 
Pyrota deceptiva
Selander
Pyrota discoidea
LeConte
Pyrota fasciata
Selander 
Pyrota insulata
(LeConte)
Pyrota invita
Horn 
Pyrota lineata texana
Dillon
Pyrota mylabrina
Chevrolat
Pyrota palpalis
Champion 
Pyrota perversa
Dillon 
Pyrota plagiata
(Haag-Rutenberg) 
Pyrota postica
LeConte 
Pyrota punctata
Casey 
Pyrota riherdi
Dillon 
Pyrota tenuicostatis
(Dugès) 
Pyrota victoria Dillon  

Type Specimen: Lytta insulata LeConte, 1858 - Harvard, MCZ

Type Locality: Texas

Weblinks

Blister Beetles - Bart Drees & John Jackman, 1999.
Blister Beetles - Featured Creatures - Richard B. Selander & Thomas R. Fasulo, 2003.

Etymology: Pyrota insulata (LeConte 1858)

pyro, (G). Fire; wheat
insula (L). An island

Biography:

John LeConte (1825-1883) - University of Nebraska-Lincoln State Museum
John Lawrence LeConte (1825-1883) - 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. 861 pp.

Barr, A.C., W.L. Wigle, W. Flory, B.E. Alldredge, J.C. Reagor. 1998. Cantharidin poisoning of emu chicks by ingestion of Pyrota insulata. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation 10(1): 77-79.  

Blackwelder, R.E., 1946. Checklist of the Coleopterous insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America, part 4. Smithsonian Institution US Natural History Museum Bulletin 185, Parts 1-6. 1492 pp.

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

Brown, W.D., R. Standford. 1992. Male mating tactics in a blister beetle (Coleoptera: Meloidae) vary with female quality. Canadian Journal of Zoology 70:1652–1655.

Champion, G.C. 1889-1893. Insecta. Coleoptera. Heteromera (part). In: F.D. Godman & O. Salvin (editors). Biologia Centrali-Americana: or, contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America. Taylor & Francis, London. 4(2): x + 494 pp. Tab. 21, Pg. 429, Pg. 434.

Dillon, L.S. 1952. The Meloidae (Coleoptera) of Texas. American Midland Naturalist, 48(2): 330-420.

Drees, B.M. & J. Jackman. 1999. Field Guide to Texas Insects. Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham, MD. 376 pp.

LeConte, J.L. 1858. Descriptions of new species of Coleoptera, chiefly collected by the United States and Mexican boundary commission, under Major W.H. Emory, U.S.A. Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 10: 59-89.

Pinto, J.D. & M.A. Bologna. 1999. The New World genera of Meloidae (Coleoptera): a key and synopsis. Journal of Natural History 33: 569-620.

Selander, R.B. 1983. A revision of the genus Pyrota. IV. The Tenuicostatis group (Coleoptera, Meloidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 56 (1): 1-19.

White, R.E. 1983. A Field Guide to the Beetles of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 368 pp.


12 Mar 2010  © Mike Quinn / entomike@gmail.com / Texas Entomology / Texas Beetle Information