Anacimas

by Stephen A. Marshall, Firefly Books Ltd., 2018. By any standard this is a big book. It is 2 inches thick, weighs 7.5 lbs., and sports 784 glossy heavyweight pages, most lavishly adorned with color photos. Marshall is professor of entomology in Canada and has authoted at least two other large volumes. Here, he undertakes an ambitious taxonomic review of the Order, supported by various pertinent field observations and illuminating facets of natural histories. There is a dichotomous key to principal Families at the end and an excellent index. However, this book is primarily geared for academic interest; no space at all is devoted to captive husbandry, despite the fact that keepers and breeders of live beetles are responsible for the lion's share of popular interest in the Order. In any case, this is a beautifully produced volume and reflects a real labor of love. It would be a wonderful addition to any entomophile's bookshelf or coffee table.

by Thomas Blanchard. Apropos of spring, whatever you make of the message:

I too am appalled by this grotesque breach of taxonomic authority! There oughta be a law...

Very lucid explanation; thanks much!

Translation please! Inquiring minds -- and my pet beetles -- want to know! 😉

Congratulations on this; the updates are fascinating and very informative. Best wishes for the whole amazing family!

Thanks! To the taxonomically naive - like me - it seemed the two genera would be more closely linked than mere occupants of the same superfamily. However, your note that larval similarity must always take a taxonomic back seat to adult form is very appropriate.

To a layman, there are remarkable morphological and lifestyle similarities between Platerodrilus and Lamprigera. Yet the latter are Lampyrids! What is the phylogenetic relationship between these taxa?

Great collection and photos!

Hi Jacob, Don't forget to upload a video, so forum members can share your enjoyment!

Enough to pay for a chainmail gauntlet

An interesting read in this regard is Jen-Pan Huang's "The great American biotic interchange and diversification history in Dynastes beetles" in the Sep 1 2016 issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, wherein, among other strong assertions, granti and tityus are absolutely classed as separate and distinct species. What's the point of all this? I contend: 1. The 2 million year figure for granti/tityus bifurcation may well be accurate but could also be off by an order of magnitude or more. 2. Although taxonomy has come a long way in the last few centuries, a precise understanding of species and speciation remains frustratingly elusive. 3. Ultimately, Stellar's queries re hybrid viability can only be addressed via experiment.

Well, when querying www.timetree.org to determine the phylogenetic distance between Dynastes granti and Dynastes tityus, I get an error message telling me the two taxa are the same. Guess this means I have to power up my trusty time machine again, carefully setting the dial for 2,000,000 years...

How is this figure determined for particular species?