The false stag beetles (Diphyllostoma) are a group of three species of rare beetles known only from California. Almost nothing is known of their life history beyond that the adults are diurnal and females are flightless; larvae have not been observed.
| False stag beetle | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia |
| Superfamily: | Scarabaeoidea |
| Family: | Diphyllostomatidae Holloway, 1972 |
| Genus: | Diphyllostoma Fall, 1901[1] |
| Species | |
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see text | |
Their length ranges from 5 to 9 mm; bodies are elongate, with a generally dull brown to reddish-brown color. Both body and legs are covered with longish hairs.
Originally classed with the Lucanidae, Diphyllostoma have a number of characteristics not shared with any other type of stag beetle, and so in 1972 Holloway proposed a separate family Diphyllostomatidae, which has since been accepted.
A possible close relative has been reported from mid-Cretaceous aged Burmese amber in Myanmar, dating to around 100 million years ago.[2]
Species
edit- Diphyllostoma fimbriatum (Fall, 1901)
- Diphyllostoma linsleyi Fall, 1932
- Diphyllostoma nigricolle Fall, 1912
Notes
edit- ^ Fall, H.C. (1901). "Two new species of Lucanidae from California". The Canadian Entomologist. 33 (11): 289–293.
- ^ Yamamoto, Shûhei (June 2024). "First fossil record of false stag beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Diphyllostomatidae): Evolutionary and biogeographical implications". Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology. 27 (2): 102259. doi:10.1016/j.aspen.2024.102259.
References
edit- Mary Liz Jameson and Brett C. Ratcliffe, "Diphyllostomatidae", in Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001), vol. 2
- B. A. Holloway, "The systematic position of the genus Diphyllostoma Fall (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)" New Zealand Journal of Science 15: 31-38 (1972)
External links
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Data related to False stag beetle at Wikispecies