Spondylidinae

Taxobox
name = Spondylidinae

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Arhopalus ferus" (Mulsant, 1839) ♀
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Coleoptera
subordo = Polyphaga
superfamilia = Chrysomeloidea
familia = Cerambycidae
subfamilia = Spondylidinae
subfamilia_authority = Audinet-Serville, 1832 [ITIS|ID=678790|taxon=Spondylidinae]
subdivision_ranks = Tribes
subdivision = see text

Spondylidinae are a small subfamily of Cerambycidae including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the coniferous forests of the Boreal hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas (Mexico, Cuba), while very few genera (e.g., "Zamium") are present in Austral Africa and Madagascar (e.g., "Masatopus").

Morphology

Adult

Spondylidinae are insects characterised by cerambycine aspect, generally with a more or less flattened, dark body, oblique head and scarcely elongated antennae. Their sexual dimorphism is scarcely evident, that i,s males and females are scarcely distinguishable. Unlike Cerambycinae, their stridulitrum is divided.

Larva

The larvae are completely different from those of Cerambycinae and similar to those of Lepturinae in several respects, being characterised by a rounded head and large labrum. They also typically possess two closely-spaced small spines on the last abdominal segment.

Biology

Adult

Spondylidinae are nearly all nocturnal or crepuscular. Only the genus "Tetropium", characterised by finely faceted eyes, has diurnal activity. The adults live on the host plants, taking refuge under barks or trunks during inactive periods.

Larva

Except for some Saphanini ("Saphanus", "Drymochares") and Anisarthronini, the larvae of most of species attack conifers.

Taxonomy

History

Spondylidinae have a complicated systematic history, and details of the relationships are still uncertain. In 1897 Xambeu [Xambeu F., 1897-1902. "Moeurs et métamorphoses des insectes, 8e Mémoire, Longicornes ". L'echange (pagination spéciale) 151-209: 220 pp. + 1 Tab.] united the genera "Spondylis", "Asemum", "Chriocephalus" (now "Arhopalus") and "Tetropium" in Spondyliens, on the basis of the larval morphology. Nevertheless, this classification was rejected by contemporaneous authors since "Spondylis" was believed to be related to Prioninae and "Parandra" [Lameere A., 1913. "Cerambycidae: Prioninae". Coleopterorum Catalogus 52, S. Schenkling, Berlin, 108 pp.] . At that time most spondylidine genera were placed within the subfamily Aseminae. A later study of the wing morphology [Saalas U., 1936. "Über das Flügelgeäder und die phylogenetische Entwicklung der Cerambyciden". Annales Zoologici Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo 4 (1): 1-193.] confirmed Xambeu's grouping, but by the end of the 20th Century (and in some contemporaneous faunas) Spondylidini were treated as a separate subfamily. Only after 1987 [Svácha P. & Danilevsky M. L., 1987. "Cerambycoid larvae of Europe and Soviet Union (Coleoptera Cerambycoidea)". Part Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 30: 1-176.] , after further studies on the larval morphology, was it recognized that spondylidines and asemines were indeed part of the same group, rather than separate lineages. Spondylidini - whose larvae are indistinguishable from that of all other traditional Aseminae - appear to be simply highly derived Asemini, with adult morphology convergent with lucaniform Prioninae and the Vesperidae of the Amazonian genus "Migdolus".

Current systematics

Spondylidinae (this name has priority over Aseminae) includes five tribes.

* Anisarthronini Paulian & Villiers, 1941
* Asemini Thomson, 1860
* Atimiini LeConte, 1873
* Saphanini Gistel, 1856
* Spondylidini Audinet-Serville, 1832

References

External links

* [http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id11007/ Check-list of World-wide Spondylidinae]
* [http://www.cerambycoidea.com/tribu.asp?Id=6&Tipo=F Gallery of World-wide Spondylidinae]
* [http://plant.cdfa.ca.gov/byciddb/bycidview.asp?sf=Aseminae Gallery of American] Spondylidinae
* [http://www2.gol.com/users/nanacorp/ZUKAN/zukan3kurokamiaka.htm Gallery of Japanese Spondylidinae]