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Epicauta

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Epicauta
Epicauta hirticornis
Epicauta hirticornis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Meloidae
Subfamily: Meloinae
Tribe: Epicautini
Genus: Epicauta
Dejean, 1834[1]
Species

about 360

Epicauta is a genus of beetles in the blister beetle family, Meloidae. The genus was first scientifically described in 1834 by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean. Epicauta is distributed nearly worldwide, with species native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica.[2] Surveys have found the genus to be particularly diverse in northern Arizona in the United States.[2] Few species occur in the Arctic, with none farther north than the southern edge of the Northwest Territories, Canada.[2]

Adult beetles feed on plants. The larvae are predators on the eggs of grasshoppers.[2] The beetles can significantly damage plants, and many Epicauta are known as agricultural pests around the world, even known to cause crop failures at times. As do other blister beetles, these produce cantharidin, a toxic terpenoid which can kill animals such as horses if they ingest enough of the beetles.[3]

This is one of the largest blister beetle genera, with about 360 described species as of 2011.[4]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Meloidae in Synopsis of the Described Coleoptera of the World June 6, 2010 Archived October 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d Kerr, J. T. and L. Packer. (1999). The environmental basis of North American species richness patterns among Epicauta (Coleoptera: Meloidae). Archived 2016-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Biodiversity & Conservation 8(5), 617-28.
  3. ^ DiFonzo, C. Cantharidin content and lethal dose of common Michigan blister beetles. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Field Crops Entomology, Michigan State University. 2009.
  4. ^ Campos-Soldini, M. P. and S. A. Roig-Juñent. (2011). Redefinition of the vittata species group of Epicauta Dejean (1834) (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and taxonomic revision of the species from southern South America. Zootaxa 2824, 21-43.

Further reading

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