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Iphiclus

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Iphiclus
Iphiclus sulphurifer, type species of the disputed subgenus Habrodactylus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Erotylidae
Genus: Iphiclus
Chevrolat, 1837[1][verification needed]
Type species
Erotylus flavovittatus
Duponchel, 1825
Synonyms

Acronotus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Smith, 1827: preoccupied)
Barytopus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Chevrolat, 1836: preoccupied)
Brachymerus Chevrolat, 1837
Brachysphaenus Kuhnt, 1909
Brachysphenus Gorham, 1888
Brachysphoenus Lacordaire, 1842
Charidemus Gistel, 1848
Megaprotus Lacordaire, 1842
Morphoides Hope, 1841[verification needed]
Morphoides Crotch, 1876 (non Hope, 1841: preoccupied)
Neobarytopus Alvarenga, 1965
Oogaster Lacordaire, 1842 (non Falderman, 1840: preoccupied)
Saccomorphus Chevrolat, 1837

Iphiclus is a large genus – possibly the most diverse – in the pleasing fungus beetle family (Erotylidae). This genus belongs to subfamily Erotylinae and occurs across the Neotropics.[2][3] Its almost 300 named species are divided into several subgenera, whose monophyly (and validity), however, remains to be determined.[1] Most of these beetles, as adults as well as larvae, feed on polypores (shelf fungi).[4]

The genus name was established by Louis Chevrolat in 1837[verification needed].[5][6] Chevrolat's name was, however, overshadowed by the extensive study of Jean Théodore Lacordaire a few years later, who described most of the currently-known species and introduced the genus name Brachysphoenus. That genus name, or spelling variants thereof, was generally used by subsequent authors – namely in the seminal works on the genus by George Crotch in the mid-1870s, Henry Gorham in the late 1880s, Paul Kuhnt around 1910, Leopold Mader around 1940, and Jacintho Guérin in 1956 –, until Iphiclus was reinstated by Moacyr Alvarenga in the 1960s.[1]

Description

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Iphiclus unites species which are fairly large by the standards of their family (about 6.5-17 mm long and 4-9 mm wide as adults), and generally similar to Erotylus and other close relatives. They can be recognized by an elongated oval shape and elytra which are usually only slightly convex (unlike some relatives such as Aegithus, which are almost hemispherical); the rear edge of the pronotum has at least a weak – in some, a pronounced – rearward bulge in the middle lobe. The head of Ischyrus has a short wedge-like snout, compound eyes with small ommatidia, a short wedge-shaped clypeus with a wide base, and 11-segmented antennae with a "club" at the tip in which the segments are still distinctly visible. The mentum has a triangular plate, the ends of the maxillary palps are widened to a triangle shape, the maxillary lacinia bear two small teeth, and the mouth-cavity sides are flattened lobes. There are no ornaments on the head, and the pronotum is likewise smooth. The legs are of moderate length, with tarsi whose first three segments are increasingly widened.[6][7]

Systematics

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The division into subgenera must be considered provisional.[1] As of the early 21st century, even the monophyly of the genus as such is not considered likely anymore; some subgenera (in particular Habrodactylus) are probably paraphyletic, while others (such as Megaprotus) seem to warrant recognition as distinct genera.[4]

Subgenus Iphiclus (Aegithomorphus) Lacordaire, 1842 – southeastern Brazil. Type species: I.biplagiatus.

Subgenus Iphiclus (Brachymerus) Dejean 1836 (= Morphoides Crotch, 1876 (non Hope, 1841: preoccupied), Neomorphoides) – lowlands and foothills from Guatemala to southern Brazil. Type species I.tibialis, erroneously re-designated as I.nitidulus (now subgenus Neobarytopus).[4][8]

Iphiclus simplex of subgenus Brachymerus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Habrodactylus) Lacordaire, 1842 – lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Type species: I.sulphurifer. Probably a paraphyletic assemblage, with I.conspicillatus basal to the entire assemblage of Iphiclus and related genera, and others placed in this subgenus closer to genus Ellipticus and Erotylina. Some are patterned with eyespots; others are largely brownish with little black patterning. Larvae feed individually in some species, but as a group in I.conspicillatus.[4]

Iphiclus egensis of subgenus Habrodactylus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Iphiclus) Chevrolat, 1837[verification needed] – lowlands and foothills from Guatelama to northern Paraguay. Type species: I.flavovittatus. Close to subgenus Saccomorphus and genus Erotylina. Some are patterned with eyespots. Larvae feed individually?[4]

Iphiclus intersectus of subgenus Iphiclus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Megaprotus) Lacordaire, 1842 – lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Type species: I.signatus. Close to subgenus Brachymerus and genus Prepopharus. Some are patterned with eyespots. Larvae feed individually?[4]

Iphiclus argus of subgenus Megaprotus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neacronotus) Alvarenga, 1965 (= Acronotus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Smith, 1827: preoccupied)) – Colombia; doubtful record from Mexico. Type species: I.annularis.

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neobarytopus) Alvarenga, 1965 (= Barytopus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Dejean, 1836: preoccupied)) – lowlands and foothills from Guatemala to northern Argentina. At least in Colombia, seems to prefer lower-lying regions.[9] Type species: I.tricinctus. Close to subgenus Megaprotus and genus Prepopharus.[4][8]

Iphiclus brongniarti of subgenus Neobarytopus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neoogaster) Alvarenga, 1965 (= Oogaster Lacordaire, 1842 (non Falderman, 1840: preoccupied)) – Guadeloupe and Dominica[10] (Lesser Antilles) and possibly adjacent islands; a record from French Guiana is erroneous. Resemble Aegithus in coloration, being black with unpatterned tan elytra, but are overall flatter and narrower in shape; larvae also similar to Aegithus. Type species: I.guadeloupensis.[6]

Subgenus Iphiclus (Saccomorphus) Chevrolat , 1837 (= Charidemus, Morphoides Hope, 1841) – lowlands and foothills from Panama to northern Argentina and Chile. At least in Colombia, seems to range rather far up in the Andes.[9] Type species: I.limbatus. Close to genus Erotylina. At least some seem to eat a wider range of fungi than other species placed in Iphiclus.[4]

Iphiclus bimaculatus of subgenus Saccomorphus

Subgenus Iphiclus (Sternolobus) Guérin-Méneville, 1841 – eastern Andes foothills from western Venezuela to northern Peru. Type species: I.bisignatus.

The enigmatic Iphiclus virgatus

Additional species
Iphiclus virgatus was long placed in genus Mycotretus, but while it does seem to belong into Iphiclus, as of 2023 its precise relationships were still undetermined.[11]

As can be expected from a widespread and highly diverse Neotropical beetle genus, undescribed species may still exist. A review of the UPN collection found 16 identifiable species represented among the 69 Colombian Iphiclus specimens, with Cundinamarca Department featuring all but 3 of the recognized species. In addition, 12 specimens (about 17%) from southern and central Colombia could be identified as Iphiclus, but not assigned to a species known from the region.[9]

During an earlier review of the famous George Crotch collection at the UMZC, about 425 confirmed or presumed Iphiclus (in Crotch's time, Brachysphoenus) were counted, with roughly 130 species present; only about 15 of these were represented by more than a handful of specimens, however. Of these, the Iphiclus (Neobarytopus) I.quinquefasciatus, I.nigropictus and I.odyneroides with, respectively, 15, 12 and 11 specimens, as well as the Iphiclus (Iphiclus) I.abdominalis and the Iphiclus (Saccomorphus) I.haematocephalus with 12 specimens each are most abundantly represented. In addition, about 13% of Crotch's "Brachysphoenus" were still unidentified by the end of the 20th century. These consist of two sets of five specimens representing four species altogether – two presumed by Crotch to be Iphiclus (Neobarytopus) close to I.batesi and/or I.geometra, and two putative Iphiclus (Brachymerus) –, 30 specimens (number of species unknown) of possible Iphiclus (Habrodactylus), and 14 specimens which Crotch considered either Iphiclus (Neobarytopus) of unclear affiliations or incertae sedis within the genus when he last sorted them (they were pinned between all other of his "Brachysphoenus" and his "Typocephalus"). Most intriguing is a single suspected Iphiclus (Sternolobus); it has a prepared "TYPE" label which is otherwise blank, and appears to have been one of the beetles Crotch prepared to describe as new species when he died in 1874 only 32 years old.[12]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Alvarenga, Moacyr (1994): Catálogo dos Erotylidae (Coleoptera) Neotropicais. [Catalogue of Neotropical Erotylidae (Coleoptera). Portuguese with English abstract.] Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 11(1): 1-175. doi:10.1590/S0101-81751994000100001.
  2. ↑ "Iphiclus Chevrolat, 1837". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Genus Iphiclus". iNaturalist. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robertson, James A.; McHugh, Joseph V. & Whiting, Michael F. (2004): A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae): evolution of colour patterns, gregariousness and mycophagy. Syst.Entomol. 29(2): 173-187. doi:10.1111/j.0307-6970.2004.00242.x PDF fulltext
  5. ↑ Dejean, Pierre François Marie Auguste (1833–1836). Catalogue des coléoptères de la collection de M. le comte Dejean. Paris: Mequignon-Marvis père et fils. p. 426. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.8771.
  6. 1 2 3 Skelley, Paul E. (2009): Pleasing fungus beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae). Insect.Mund. 82: 1-94. PDF fulltext
  7. ↑ Deelder, C.L. (1942): Revision of the Erotylidae (Coleoptera) of the Leiden Museum. Zool. Meded. 24(3): 49-115. Fulltext
  8. 1 2 Skelley, Paul E. (2020): Nomenclatural notes for the Erotylinae (Coleoptera: Erotylidae). Insect. Mundi 0767: 1–35. PDF fulltxt
  9. 1 2 3 Torres-Pachón, Mónica; Gasca-Álvarez,; Héctor Jaime; Bustos-Martínez, Miller Felipe; Skelley, Paul E. & García-Sarmiento, Martha J. (2026): Erotylinae (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) de la colección entomológica del Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. ["Erotylinae (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) housed in Natural History Museum Entomological Collection of Universidad Pedagógica Nacional." Spanish with English abstract.] Revista UDCA Actualidad & Divulgación Científica 29(1): e3002. doi:10.31910/rudca.v29.n1.2026.3002
  10. ↑ "Dominican Republic" (and "Haiti" and "Hispaniola") is in error.
  11. ↑ Pecci-Maddalena, Italo Salvatore de Castro; Lopes-Andrade, Cristiano; Skelley, Paul (2023-06-28). "Catalogue of Mycotretus Lacordaire, 1842 (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Tritomini): an annotated, illustrated and historical approach". European Journal of Taxonomy. 876: 1–182. doi:10.5852/ejt.2023.876.2149. ISSN 2118-9773.
  12. ↑ Skelley, Paul E. (1998): A Catalogue of the Crotch Collection of Erotylidae (Coleoptera). Ann. Zool. 48(1/2): 1-44. PDF fulltext
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