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Epicauta

{{Short description|Genus of beetles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Epicauta hirticornis (Haag-Rutenberg, 1880).jpg

| image_alt = Epicauta hirticornis

| image_caption = Epicauta hirticornis

| taxon = Epicauta

| authority = Dejean, 1834[http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/test/Arthropoda/Insects/Coleoptera/Family/Meloidae.txt Meloidae] in [http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/test/Arthropoda/Insects/Coleoptera/Family/Coleoptera1.htm Synopsis of the Described Coleoptera of the World June 6, 2010] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020032956/http://insects.tamu.edu/research/collection/hallan/test/Arthropoda/Insects/Coleoptera/Family/Coleoptera1.htm |date=October 20, 2013 }}

| display_parents = 3

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = about 360

}}

Epicauta is a genus of beetles in the blister beetle family, Meloidae. The genus was first scientifically described in 1834 by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean. Epicauta is distributed nearly worldwide, with species native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica.Kerr, J. T. and L. Packer. (1999). [http://macroecology.ca/pdf/biodcons1999.pdf The environmental basis of North American species richness patterns among Epicauta (Coleoptera: Meloidae).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105152204/http://macroecology.ca/pdf/biodcons1999.pdf |date=2016-01-05 }} Biodiversity & Conservation 8(5), 617-28. Surveys have found the genus to be particularly diverse in northern Arizona in the United States. Few species occur in the Arctic, with none farther north than the southern edge of the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Adult beetles feed on plants. The larvae are predators on the eggs of grasshoppers. The beetles can significantly damage plants, and many Epicauta are known as agricultural pests around the world, even known to cause crop failures at times. As do other blister beetles, these produce cantharidin, a toxic terpenoid which can kill animals such as horses if they ingest enough of the beetles.DiFonzo, C. [http://www.msuent.com/assets/pdf/19Blisterbeetle.pdf Cantharidin content and lethal dose of common Michigan blister beetles.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090937/http://www.msuent.com/assets/pdf/19Blisterbeetle.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} Field Crops Entomology, Michigan State University. 2009.

This is one of the largest blister beetle genera, with about 360 described species as of 2011.Campos-Soldini, M. P. and S. A. Roig-Juñent. (2011). [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02824p043f.pdf Redefinition of the vittata species group of Epicauta Dejean (1834) (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and taxonomic revision of the species from southern South America.] Zootaxa 2824, 21-43.

Species

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References

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Further reading

  • Campos-Soldini, M. P. (2011). [http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1519-566X2011000500009&script=sci_arttext A new species group of the genus Epicauta Dejean of southern South America, the bella group (Coleoptera: Meloidae).] Neotropical Entomology 40(5), 575-86.

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Category:Meloidae

Category:Taxa named by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean

Category:Tenebrionoidea genera