''Macrodontia'' is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of long-horned beetles remarkable for their large size and for the large

mandibles In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

of the males in particular.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Macrodontia'' Lepeletier, Audinet-Serville & Lacordaire, 1830 is in some documents credited to Latreille as the authority,Barsevskis A. et al (eds), Cerambycidae of the World, 2016 but this appears to be an error, possibly due to confusion arising from Latreille having been the authority for the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Prioninae The Prioninae are a subfamily of Cerambycidae (long-horned beetles). They are typically large (25–70 mm) and usually brown or black. The males of a few genera sport large Mandible (arthropod), mandibles that are used in fights with other ...

and the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by anten ...

. It is a genus within the family

, subfamily

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Macrodontiini. The following species are recognised in the genus ''Macrodontia'': *'' Macrodontia antonkozlovi'' Santos-Silva, 2016 *'' Macrodontia batesi'' Lameere, 1912 *'' Macrodontia castroi'' Marazzi, Pavesi & Marazzi, 2008 *'' Macrodontia cervicornis'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) *'' Macrodontia crenata'' (Olivier, 1795) *'' Macrodontia dejeanii'' Gory, 1839 *'' Macrodontia flavipennis'' Chevrolat, 1833 *'' Macrodontia itayensis'' Simoëns, 2006 *'' Macrodontia jolyi'' Bleuzen, 1994 *'' Macrodontia marechali'' Bleuzen, 1990 *''

Macrodontia mathani Macrodontia may refer to: * Macrodontia (tooth), a tooth disorder where the teeth are larger than normal * ''Macrodontia'' (beetle), a genus of beetles See also * Macrodonta (disambiguation) {{disambiguation, Biology ...

'' Pouillaude, 1915 *'' Macrodontia zischkai'' Tippmann, 1960

Description

The species are large. Some are giants among insects, with occasional specimens more than 17 cm long. The habitus is fairly typical of the Cerambycidae, except for the enormous jaws of the males: elongated, more or less parallel-sided beetles with dorsiventrally flattened bodies, generally all brown or orange with longitudinal dark striping. The males are larger than the females and generally have enormous jaws, from which the generic name presumably derives: from the Greek ''μάκρος'' (''makros'') meaning "long or large" and ''ὀδόντος,'' (''odontos'') meaning "of a tooth". In contrast, in proportion to the beetles' size, the antennae are shorter than those of typical Cerambycidae.

Distribution

The genus was originally described from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, but the 11 currently recognised species variously range from regions between

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

at the north of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, or even Southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in South America.

References

* Bleuzen (P.), 1994 -

The Beetles of the World ''The Beetles of the World'' is a series of books devoted to Coleopterology. Sciences Nat published the 24 first volumes; the following volumes and the supplements were published by Hillside Books, Canterbury. The first book authored by Jacques Ri ...

, volume 21. Prioninae 1: Macrodontini (Cerambycidae).

Sciences Nat Sciences Nat was the academic publisher specialising in entomology of the Societé Sciences Nat. The society was established in 1971 and based in the rue de la Mare in Paris. Three years later it moved to the rue des Alouettes and later to Venet ...

Venette Venette () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The town is located along the river Oise, near Compiègne. Population Its inhabitants are called ''Venettiens'' in French.

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* Marazzi & Pavesi, 2008 - Genus Macrodontia (Cerambycidae), Natura Ed. * Simoëns (H), 2006 - Un nouveau Macrodontia originaire du Pérou (Cerambycidae), Cahiers Magellanes, 62

External links

List of Macrodontia species

Gallery of'' Macrodontia''-species
Prioninae Beetles of South America Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier Taxa named by Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville {{Prioninae-stub