Under Construction

Ceratohister Reichensperger 1924

Michael S. Caterino
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Containing group: Chlamydopsinae

Introduction

Ceratohister was first named by Reichensperger (1924) for a species collected with Pheidole ants in India, C. pheidoliphilus. Neither his type specimen, nor that species have ever been seen again. The genus is unusual (though not unique) among Chlamydopsinae in lacking elytral trichomes. As these are generally considered the hallmarks of myrmecophilous beetles, it is particularly interesting to note that at least one of the species uses ants as a host.

Subsequent species placed in Ceratohister have been collected well to the east and southeast of the original species, from Borneo and Sulawesi. 

The genus Ceratohister is not very well supported at present. Given uncertainty about its monophyly, it is not possible to place Ceratohister among other 'hidden scutellum group' taxa. Its species generally appear closely related to others lacking elytral trichomes (those in Pheidoliphila), but it is unlikely that this loss has only happened once.

Characteristics

The genus Ceratohister is defined very practically by the lack of elytral trichomes in combination with a generally smooth dorsum (as opposed to carinate as seen in some Pheidoliphila which also lack typical trichomes.)

References

Caterino. M. S. and Dégallier, N. 2007. A review of the biology and systematics of Chlamydopsinae. Invertebrate Systematics 21:1-28.

Reichensperger, A. 1924. Zur kenntnis myrmekophiler Histeriden. Entomologische Mitteilungen 8:302–308.

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Ceratohister ankylonotum
Location Sabah, Malaysia
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Michael S. Caterino
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2002
Scientific Name Ceratohister leai
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Identified By Michael S. Caterino
Collection The Natural History Museum, London
Type Holotype
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright ©
About This Page


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

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Michael S. Caterino at

Page: Tree of Life Ceratohister Reichensperger 1924. 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. 2007. Ceratohister Reichensperger 1924. Version 15 July 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Ceratohister/9258/2007.07.15 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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