Spondylidinae (often misspelled "Spondylinae") are a small

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 ...

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 ...

including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

forests of the

Boreal Boreal, northern, of the north. Derived from the name of the god of the north wind from Ancient Greek civilisation, Boreas (god), Boreas. It may also refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernand ...

hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas (

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 ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

), while very few genera (e.g., '' Zamium'') are present in Austral

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

(e.g., '' Masatopus'').

Adult

Spondylidinae are

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

characterised by cerambycine aspect, generally with a more or less flattened, dark body, oblique head and scarcely elongated antennae. Their

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

is scarcely evident; males and females are extremely similar. Unlike

Cerambycinae Cerambycinae is a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae). The subfamily has a world-wide distribution including: Asia, Europe and the Americas (with 430 species in 130 genera in the neotropical realm). Within the family, the only ...

, their stridulitrum is divided.

Larva

The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are completely different from those of

and similar to those of

Lepturinae Lepturinae, the lepturine beetles, is a subfamily of the longhorn beetle family (biology), family (Cerambycidae), containing about 150 genera worldwide. This lineage is most diverse in the Northern Hemisphere. Until recently the subfamily Necyd ...

in several respects, being characterised by a rounded head and large labrum. They also typically possess two closely spaced small spines on the last

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

segment.

Adult

Spondylidinae are nearly all

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal (active during dawn), vespertine (biology), vespertine/vespertinal (active during dusk), or both. This is distinguished from diurnalit ...

. Only the genus '' Tetropium'', characterised by finely faceted eyes, has diurnal activity. The adults live on the host plants, taking refuge under

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

s or trunks during inactive periods.

Larva

Except for some Saphanini ('' Saphanus'', '' Drymochares'') and Anisarthrini, the

e of most of species attack

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

History

Spondylidinae have a complicated systematic history, and details of the relationships are still uncertain. In 1897 Xambeu united the genera '' Spondylis'', '' Asemum'', ''Chriocephalus'' (now '' Arhopalus'') and ''Tetropium'' in Spondyliens, on the basis of the larval morphology. Nevertheless, this classification was rejected by contemporaneous authors since ''Spondylis'' was believed to be related to

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 '' Parandra''. At that time most spondylidine genera were placed within the subfamily Aseminae. A later study of the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

morphology confirmed Xambeu's grouping, but by the end of the 20th Century (and in some contemporaneous faunas) Spondylidini were treated as a separate subfamily. Only after 1987, Švácha P. & Danilevsky M. L., 1987. ''Cerambycoid larvae of Europe and Soviet Union (Coleoptera Cerambycoidea)''. Part Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 30: 1-176. after further studies on the larval morphology, was it recognized that spondylidines and asemines were indeed part of the same group, rather than separate lineages. Spondylidini - whose larvae are indistinguishable from that of all other traditional Aseminae - appear to be simply highly derived Asemini, with adult morphology convergent with lucaniform Prioninae and the Vesperidae of the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

genus '' Migdolus''. It has further complicated matters that various authors have misspelled the name of the group as "Spondylini" or "Spondylinae", but these are junior homonyms of

Spondylidae ''Spondylus'' is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family (biology), family Spondylidae and subfamily Spondylinae. They are known in English as spiny oysters or thorny oysters (although they are not, in fact, true oysters, but ...

Gray, 1826, a mollusc name.

Current systematics

Spondylidinae (this name has priority over Aseminae) includes seven

tribes 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 ...

. The number of species below is approximate and changes over time. * Anisarthrini Mamaev & Danilevsky, 1973 - (Africa, Europe, Asia), 9 species * Asemini Thomson, 1860 - (

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

, North, Central, and South America, New Zealand, Australia), 43 species * Atimiini LeConte, 1873 - (North America, Asia), 18 species * Nothorhinini Zagajkevich, 1991 - (Europe, Asia, North America), 2 species in one genus (often placed within Asemini) * Saphanini

Gistel Gistel () is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Following local government boundary reforms in 1971 and 1977, the municipality has comprised not only Gistel, but also the towns of Moere, Snaaskerke and Z ...

, 1856 - (Europe, western Asia, Africa,

, eastern U.S.), 45 species * Spondylidini Audinet-Serville, 1832 - (Europe, Asia, North America, Mexico), 4 species * Tetropiini Seidlitz, 1891 - (Europe, Asia, North America, Central America), 146 species in one genus (often placed within Asemini)

References

External links

Check-list of World-wide SpondylidinaeGallery of World-wide SpondylidinaeGallery of American Spondylidinae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715555 Cerambycidae