Characteristics
The size of anomalines ranges between 5 and 40 mm, and their coloration has
a wide range of tones, including metallic green, testaceous, and black. The
characteristics are: labrum horizontally produced with respect to the clypeus;
antennae with 9 segments; protibiae bidentate (rarely unidentate or tridentate),
inner protibial spur subapical (lacking in Leptohoplia); foretarsomeres
not enlarged or densely setose ventrally; elytra with membranous border at lateral
margin; terminal spiracle not positioned in pleural suture.
Classification Status
Blanchard (1851) first created the group name Anomalitae that included the genera
Anisoplia, Tropiorhynchus, Callirhinus, Rhinyptia, Phyllopertha, Epectinaspis,
Anomala, Mimela, Callistethus, Popillia, Pharaonus, Pachystethus, and Strigoderma.
In 1886, Bates classified the group as a subfamily of Rutelidae. In 1902, Peringuey
designated Anomalini as a tribe of Rutelinae and published a key to the tribes
of Rutelinae of South Africa. Although members of this group are agriculturally
important, there are few resources that allow for identification of the species
in the New World. Paucar-Cabrera (2003) provided a key to all New World genera
and conducted a phylogenetic analysis of some genera with an emphasis on the
genus Epectinaspis. Publications with the taxonomic information about
Anomalini are the Coleopterorum Catalogus (Ohaus 1918; Machatschke 1972), the
Genera Insectorum (Machatschke 1957), and Blackwelder's (1944) checklist.
Distribution
The tribe Anomalini in the New World includes 17 genera and about 310 described
species. In the New World, anomalines occur from southern Canada to southern
South America. Species of the tribe inhabit almost every habitat of the New
World except the high Andes of South America.
New World Genera Profiles (click
on species names)
References
Cited
BATES, H. W. 1886-1890. Pectinicornia and Lamellicornia.
In: Salvin and Godwin (eds.), Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta Coleoptera
Vol. II Part 2: 1-432.
BLANCHARD, M. E. 1851. Catalogue de la Collection Entomologique,
Classe des Insectes, Ordre des Coleópterès. Tome 1. Gide et
Baudry, Libraries-Editeurs. Paris.
BLACKWELDER, R. E. 1944. Checklist of the coleopterous insects
of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America, Parts 1-6.
Bulletin of the United States National Museum 185: 1-1492.
MACHATSCHKE,
J. W. 1957. Coleoptera Lamellicornia, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae. Genera
Insectorum, Fasc. 199B: 1-219.
MACHATSCHKE, J. 1972. Scarabaeidae: Melolonthidae, Rutelinae. Coleopterorum
Catalogus Supplementa. 66(1): 1-361.
OHAUS, F. 1918. Scarabaeidae: Euchirinae, Phaenomerinae,
Rutelinae. Coleopterorum Catalogus 20: 1-241.
PAUCAR-CABRERA, A. 2003. Systematics and phylogeny of the
genus Epectinaspis Blanchard (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae)
and description of a new genus of Anomalini from Mexico. Coleopterists Society
Monograph 2:1-60.
PERINGUEY, L. A. 1902. Descriptive Catalogue of the Coleoptera
of South Africa (Lucanidae: Scarabaeidae). Trans. S. Afr. Philos. Soc. 12:
564-920.