Cerocoma is a genus of blister beetle

Blister beetle

Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. There are approximately 7,500 known species worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be...

, whose biology is poorly known. As in other members of the family, these insects are hypermetamorphic

Hypermetamorphosis

Hypermetamorphosis is a kind of complete insect metamorphosis in which the different larval instars represent two or more different forms of larva. As the larva molts its morphology can change from that of a campodeiform to scarabaeiform or to vermiform...

. Larval hosts of few species were described. Imagines show distinct sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...

 in the feeding apparatus and the antennae. All species in this genus have aposematic colouration.

The antennae

Antenna (biology)

Antennae in biology have historically been paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. More recently, the term has also been applied to cilium structures present in most cell types of eukaryotes....

 are 9-segmented, and the galea

Insect mouthparts

Insects exhibit a range of mouthparts, adapted to particular modes of feeding. The earliest insects had chewing mouthparts...

 is modified into a sucking tube; imagines

Imago

In biology, the imago is the last stage of development of an insect, after the last ecdysis of an incomplete metamorphosis, or after emergence from the pupa where the metamorphosis is complete...

 feed on pollen and nectar of Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 and Apiaceae

Apiaceae

The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...

 plants. The wings

Insect wing

Insects are the only group of invertebrates known to have evolved flight. Insects possess some remarkable flight characteristics and abilities, still far superior to attempts by humans to replicate their capabilities. Even our understanding of the aerodynamics of flexible, flapping wings and how...

 are well-developed, and the legs are long and slender.

Larvae of C. schreberi were found feeding on paralysed mantids

Mantis

Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...

 collected by Tachytes wasps.

The genus is mostly Mediterranean in distribution, and encompasses about 27 species. Fauna Europaea lists 13 species The taxonomic division into two subgenera, Cerocoma and Metacerocoma (Kaszab, 1951) is considered unfounded by some authors.

List of species

Subgenus Metacerocoma

• Cerocoma ephesica Reitter
  Edmund Reitter
  Edmund Reitter was a Austrian entomologist , writer and a collector.Edmund Reitter was above all well-known as an expert on the beetles of the Palaearctic....
  
  , 1885
• Cerocoma prevezaensis Dvorak, 1993
• Cerocoma schreberi (Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
  , 1781)

Subgenus Cerocoma

• Cerocoma adamovichiana (Piller et Mitterpacher, 1783)
• Cerocoma albopilosa Dvořák, 1993
• Cerocoma barthelemii Baudi
  Flaminio Baudi di Selve
  Flaminio Baudi di Selve Flaminio Baudi di Selve Flaminio Baudi di Selve (7 July 1821 , Savigliano - 26 June 1901 , Genoa was an Italian entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera but also Heteroptera....
  
  , 1878
• Cerocoma dahli Kraatz
  Ernst Gustav Kraatz
  Ernst Gustav Kraatz was a German entomologist.Kraatz was born in Berlin on 13 March, 1831 and died in the same city where he was a Professor at the University of Berlin. He was mainly interested in Coleoptera...
  
  , 1863
• Cerocoma festiva Faldermann
  Franz Faldermann
  Franz Faldermann was a German entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera.Falderman described many new taxa of Coleoptera.His major works are:...
  
  , 1837
• Cerocoma gloriosa Mulsant
  Étienne Mulsant
  Martial Étienne Mulsant was a French entomologist and ornithologist.Initially employed in commerce, Mulsant wrote writes Lettres à Julie sur l'entomologie, suivies d'une description méthodique de la plus grande partie des insectes de France, ornées de planches… Martial Étienne Mulsant (March 2,...
  
  , 1857
• Cerocoma graeca Maran, 1944
• Cerocoma kunzei E. Frivaldsky
  Imre Frivaldszky
  Dr Emerich Frivaldszky von Frivald was a Hungarian botanist and entomologist.-Biography:...
  
  , 1835
• Cerocoma latreillei Baudi, 1878
• Cerocoma macedonica Maran, 1944
• Cerocoma muehlfeldi Gyllenhal
  Leonard Gyllenhaal
  Leonard Gyllenhaal was a Swedish military officer and entomologist.Born on the Ribbingsberg manor in Västergötland in west Sweden, Leonard Gyllenhaal was son of an army officer and belonged to a family of the lower nobility...
  
  , 1817
• Cerocoma schaefferi (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Cerocoma scovitzi Faldermann, 1837
• Cerocoma syriaca Abeille de Perrin
  Abeille de Perrin
  Elzéar Emmanuel Arène Abeille de Perrin was a French entomologist.Abeille de Perrin was a lawyer in Marseille.He gave all his free time to entomology and was a member of the...
  
  , 1880
• Cerocoma turcica Pardo Alcaide, 1977
• Cerocoma vahli Fabricius, 1787