American Beetles
Encyclopedia
American Beetles is the single most comprehensive description of the beetle
s of North America
north of the tropical area of Mexico
. It was started by Ross H. Arnett, Jr.
as an update of his classic The Beetles of the United States; along with Michael C. Thomas
, he enlisted more than 60 specialists to write treatments of each family. The work outlived Arnett, and was published by CRC Press
in 2001 (vol. 1) and 2002 (vol. 2).
This is a highly technical book, with extensive references to the literature.
The introduction includes a section on beetle anatomy that introduces all the technical terms used later. The bulk of the content consists of treatments of the 130-odd families known to occur in North America (a couple dozen are not known from North America, and are not described); the descriptive material applies worldwide, and there are brief notes about non-North American family members.
A family treatment consists of a morphological description, including the larvae if known, habits and habitats, status of the classification, a key to the Nearctic
genera
(and sometimes species, if the family is small), and short treatments of the subtaxa. Every family gets at least one drawing of a member, and larger families may include dozens of drawings illustrating particular characters important for classification. Note that the classification that appears in Volume 1, pp. 10-13, is superseded by a number of changes that appeared in Volume 2 (the relegation of the families Monommatidae, Colydiidae, and Bruchidae to subfamily status, and the revised spelling of Ripiphoridae
), and these changes have been incorporated into the List of subgroups of the order Coleoptera.
A handful of color photographs are included in a center section.
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
north of the tropical area of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It was started by Ross H. Arnett, Jr.
Ross H. Arnett, Jr.
Ross Harold Arnett, Jr. was an American entomologist noted for his studies of beetles, and as founder of the Coleopterist's Bulletin....
as an update of his classic The Beetles of the United States; along with Michael C. Thomas
Michael C. Thomas
Michael C. Thomas is an American entomologist who is co-author of the book series American Beetles.Born in Miami, Florida, Thomas graduated from the University of South Florida in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in fine arts, followed by a Master of Science degree in Entomology from the...
, he enlisted more than 60 specialists to write treatments of each family. The work outlived Arnett, and was published by CRC Press
CRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is a publishing group which specializes in producing technical books. While many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics, their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technology...
in 2001 (vol. 1) and 2002 (vol. 2).
This is a highly technical book, with extensive references to the literature.
The introduction includes a section on beetle anatomy that introduces all the technical terms used later. The bulk of the content consists of treatments of the 130-odd families known to occur in North America (a couple dozen are not known from North America, and are not described); the descriptive material applies worldwide, and there are brief notes about non-North American family members.
A family treatment consists of a morphological description, including the larvae if known, habits and habitats, status of the classification, a key to the Nearctic
Nearctic
The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico...
genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
(and sometimes species, if the family is small), and short treatments of the subtaxa. Every family gets at least one drawing of a member, and larger families may include dozens of drawings illustrating particular characters important for classification. Note that the classification that appears in Volume 1, pp. 10-13, is superseded by a number of changes that appeared in Volume 2 (the relegation of the families Monommatidae, Colydiidae, and Bruchidae to subfamily status, and the revised spelling of Ripiphoridae
Ripiphoridae
The family Ripiphoridae is a cosmopolitan group of beetles commonly known as wedge-shaped beetles containing some 450 species...
), and these changes have been incorporated into the List of subgroups of the order Coleoptera.
A handful of color photographs are included in a center section.
- Volume 1: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia ISBN 0-8493-1925-0
- Volume 2: Polyphaga ISBN 0-8493-0954-9