Under Construction

Onthophilinae

Michael S. Caterino
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Containing group: Histeridae

Introduction

Onthophilinae is a relatively small group of histerids, and its members are by and large poorly known. The mainly Holarctic Onthophilus contains the bulk of the described species, with 37. Most of these have been recently treated, at least over limited areas (North America: Helava, 1978; Japan: Ohara, 1986; China: Zhou & Lou, 2001). Peploglyptus contains a couple of American species (Kanaar, 1981), and one in Malaysia (Caterino, 2004). But the remaining genera are largely restricted to the Old World Tropics. (Although Glymma was described from Belgium the genus is almost certainly native to Africa.) Epiechinus is relatively widespread from Africa through southeast Asia to Australia, and may prove more diverse than Onthophilus.

Onthophilus is highly varied biologically, with some species generally attracted to decaying materials from dung to compost, while others are found only associated with fungus or with the nests of specific vertebrates. Epiechinus biologies are less well known although a similar range appears likely. The species of Peploglyptus all possess trichomes and are probably myrmecophilous.

Characteristics

Although they are quite varied in detailed morphology, most Onthophilinae share exaggerated body sculpturing, with the elytra and often the pronotum strongly carinate.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Relationships among genera of Onthophilinae are not clear. The longstanding notion that the group is closely related to Tribalinae has been reexamined by Kovarik (1994), who concluded that some genera in both subfamilies belonged in the other. However, these data continue to be analyzed, and specific phylogenetic conclusions remain to be reached.

References

Caterino, M. S., and A. P. Vogler. 2002. The phylogeny of the Histeroidea. Cladistics 18(4):394-415.

Caterino, M. S. 2004. Description of the first Old World Peploglyptus LeConte. Coleopterists Bulletin 58:603-609.

Helava, J. V. T. 1978. A revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Onthophilus (Histeridae). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 15:1-43.

Kanaar, P. 1981. Two new neotropical Histeridae, with a redescription of Peploglyptus belfragei Leconte. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 36:45-51.

Kovarik, P. W. 1994. Phylogeny, chaetotaxy, and ecology of the Onthophilinae and Tribalinae. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Dept. of Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus. 339 pages.

Ohara, M., and T. Nakane. 1986. On the genus Onthophilus from Japan. Insecta Mastumurana (N.S.) 35:1-15.

Ohara, M. 1994. A revision of the superfamily Histeroidea of Japan. Insecta Mastumurana (N.S.) 51:1-283.

Slipinski, S. A., and S. Mazur. 1999. Epuraeosoma, a new genus of Histerinae and phylogeny of the family Histeridae. Annales Zoologici (Warszawa) 49:209-230.

Zhou, H.-Z., and T.-H. Lou. 2001. On the genus Onthophilus Leach from China. Coleopterists Bulletin 55:507-514.

Information on the Internet

Masahiro Ohara’s Histeridae home page: Onthophilinae
Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Onthophilus giganteus
Location Florida, USA
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2002
Scientific Name Peploglyptus mulu
Location Malaysian Borneo
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2002
About This Page


Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Page: Tree of Life Onthophilinae. Authored by Michael S. Caterino. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Caterino, Michael S. 2002. Onthophilinae. Version 07 March 2002 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Onthophilinae/9376/2002.03.07 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Onthophilinae

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top