Moneilema, or cactus longhorn beetles are a genus of large, flightless, black beetles found in North American deserts of the western United States and northern Mexico. M. gigas is native to the Sonoran Desert at elevations below 4900 feet (1500 m). The front wings of these beetles are fused forming a single, hardened shell, from which the genus derives its Latin name. The genus includes twenty species.Moneilema
Longhorn cactus beetles feed on chollas and prickly pear cacti and are known to feed on saguaro seedlings. Larvae bore into cactus roots and stems, sometimes killing more susceptible individuals. Adults also feed on the surface of cacti.
Most Moneilema species are active during mid or late summer - the adults typically emerging during the summer monsoon season. Some Moneilema species in central and southern Mexico are reported to be active all year.
Like many flightless beetles, these beetles have limited wing musculature with a rounded abdomen and thorax, similar in appearance to a number of other flightless desert beetles. Cactus longhorn beetles resemble and mimic the behavior of noxious stink beetles in the genus Eleodes.
Species Moneilema albopictum White, 1856 Moneilema annulatum Say, 1824 Moneilema appressum LeConte, 1852 Moneilema armatum LeConte, 1853 Moneilema aterrimum Fisher, 1931 Moneilema blapsides Newman, 1838 Moneilema crassipes Fisher, 1931 Moneilema ebeninum Bates, 1885 Moneilema gigas LeConte, 1873 Moneilema longipes White, 1856 Moneilema manni Psota, 1930 Moneilema mexicanum Fisher, 1926 Moneilema michelbacheri Linsley, 1942 Moneilema opuntiae Fisher, 1928 Moneilema punctipenne Fisher, 1926 Moneilema rugosissimum Casey, 1924 Moneilema semipunctatum LeConte, 1852 Moneilema subrugosum Bland, 1862 Moneilema variolare Thomson, 1867 Moneilema wickhami Psota, 1930
References
External links Range expansions in the flightless longhorn cactus beetles Evolutionary Consequences of Dispersal Ability in Cactus-feeding Insects