Renatiella reticulata

Renatiella reticulata is a species of diurnal, herbivorous beetle that is native to East and southern Africa. It has rather long legs, and is the most widespread, apomorphic and polytypic species of its genus.[1]

Renatiella reticulata
R. reticulata in Limpopo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Tenebrionidae
Subfamily:
Pimeliinae
Tribe:
Adesmiini
Genus:
Renatiella

Carl Koch, 1944
Species:
Renatiella reticulata

(Gerstäcker, 1854)

Range

It has been recorded in Tanzania,[2] Zambia,[3] Botswana,[4] Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Biology

The widespread species occurs on various sandy substrates, and adults are encountered at any time of the year. Larvae and adults feed on dead or decaying plant material, while under or on the soil surface.[5] Though not arboreal, they may climb up to one foot above ground along stumps or shrub stems to escape immersion, a habit not found in related beetles. They have been recorded on field-stooped maize, ploughed in grass sods, sunn hemp and tobacco stalks. On occasion they may attack sown maize or young tobacco crops.[5]

References
  1. Penrith, Mary-Louise (November 1986). "Relationships in the Tribe Adesmiini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and a revision of the genus Stenodesia Reitter" (PDF). Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 34 (13): 275–302. ISSN 0041-1752. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  2. Kaszab, Z. (1971). "The Scientific Results of Hungarian Zoological Expedition to Tanganyika, 15. Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae" (PDF). Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici Pars Zoologica. 63. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  3. "Renatiella reticulata". insectoid.info.
  4. "Renatiella reticulata (Gerstaecker 1854)". Namibian biodiversity database. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. Bünzli, G.H.; Büttiker, W.W. (1957). "Miscellanea: Insects in Southern Rhodesian tobacco culture. Part II, III, IV, Insects occurring in the fields: Hymenoptera; Diptera; Tenebrionidae and Elateridae". Acta Tropica. 14: 251.

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