Zopherus jourdani
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Family: Zopheridae
Genus: Zopherus
Species:
Z. jourdani
Binomial name
Zopherus jourdani
Sallé, 1849
Synonyms[1]

Zopherus jourdanii
Zopherus costaricensis

Zopherus jourdani is a species of ironclad beetle found in Central America. It is found in Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua,[2][3][1] and has been collected every month of the year from a variety of altitudes ranging from 2500 to 9800 feet.[1] The species plays dead when disturbed, which earned it the name "Durene Niño" in Costa Rica. It lives under the bark of trees, including the balsa and the pine.[1][4]

Ability to go without food

The ability of Z. jourdani to survive for extended periods of time without food is well-documented in several papers and journals; it is known as "Caméleon" in Guatemala because of this ability.[1][5][4] In the 1877-'78 Annales de la Sociéte Entomologique de Belgique, such a demonstration is recorded on the July 6th meeting: “...Mr. J. Rodriguèz brought six examples from Guatemala, kept without food in a box during the since the month of April. Three arrived in Europe still alive.”(French: M. J. Rodriguez vient d'en apporter de Guatemala six examplaires, demeurés sans nourriture dans un boîte depuis le mois d'Avril. Trois sont arrivés encore vivants en Europe.)[4]

Zopherus jourdani on display at the Texas A&M University Insect Collection.

Appearance

Specimens of Z. jourdani have variable colouration; they are mottled black and white, but the amount of each colour present varies. Light forms from Costa Rica were described by Champion in 1874 as Z. costaricensis,[6][1] which was synonymized nearly a century later in 1972.[1] Based on measurements recorded by Charles Triplehorn, it is one of the largest species in the genus, Z. chilensis being the largest. Z. jourdani has a variable length of between 17.7 and 36 mm, and a width of 6.1–12 mm.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Triplehorn, Charles (1972). "A Review of the Genus Zopherus of the World (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 108: 14.
  2. ↑ "Zopherus jourdani". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  3. ↑ ondrej.zicha(at)gmail.com, Ondrej Zicha. "BioLib: Biological library". www.biolib.cz. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  4. 1 2 3 Annales de la Société entomologique de Belgique (in French). Société entomologique de Belgique. 1877.
  5. ↑ The Zoological Record: Insecta. John Van Voorst. 1869.
  6. ↑ Godman, Frederick Du Cane; Salvin, Osbert (1893). Biologia Centrali-americana: Zoology, Botany and Archaeology. editors.
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