Pericoptus punctatus

Pericoptus punctatus is a sand scarab beetle that is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It is a smaller and similar New Zealand scarab beetle species to Pericoptus truncatus.[2][3]

Pericoptus punctatus
Drawing of Pericoptus punctatus, originally described as Cheiroplatys punctatus.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Scarabaeidae
Genus:
Pericoptus
Species:
P. punctatus
Binomial name
Pericoptus punctatus
(White, 1846)

This beetle can be found in sandy coastal areas throughout New Zealand. The adult beetle is nocturnal and obtains the size of approximately 16 – 22 mm in length. It normally spends the daylight hours buried under sand or vegetation such as Marram grass or driftwood. It can fly and is likely to be attracted to lights in the evening.[1]

Taxonomy

This species was originally described by Adam White and named Cheiroplatys punctatus in The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Erebus & HMS Terror in 1846 from a specimen collected by Percy William Earl and obtained from him during the Ross expedition.[4][5] The type specimen for this species was collected in Waikouaiti[6] and is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[4]

References
  1. Monson, Keitha; Emberson, Rowan (2003). Biodiversity of terrestrial invertebrates in Christchurch City: a report for the Christchurch City Council (Report). pp. 37–38. hdl:10182/4169.
  2. Parkinson, Brian; Horne, Don (Photographer) (2007). A Photographic Guide to Insects of New Zealand. New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd.
  3. Dale, P. S. (1963). "Ecology, Life History and Redescription of Pericoptus truncatus (Fabricius)". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 3: 17–32.
  4. Given, B. B. (1955). "A preliminary note on the Genus Pericoptus (Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae)". New Zealand Entomologist. 1 (5): 16. doi:10.1080/00779962.1955.9722744. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  5. Adam White; Arthur Gardiner Butler (1875). Richardson, John; Gray, John Edward (eds.). The zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus & Terror, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, during the years 1839 to 1843. London: E. W. Janson. pp. 9–10. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.7364. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  6. Broun, Thomas (1880). Manual of the New Zealand Coleoptera (Part 1). Wellington: James Hughes. p. 272. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.9559. Retrieved 29 April 2016.


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