Oh my goodness! Unless you are a Tree of Life developer, you really shouldn't be here. This page is part of our beta test site, where we develop new features for the ToL, often messing up a thing or two in the process. Please visit the official version of this page, which is available here.
Temporary Page

Lophoglossus

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
taxon links [down<--]Pterostichini Interpreting the tree
close box

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

close box
Containing group: Pterostichini

Introduction

Lophoglossus includes six species restricted to North America. They share distinct autapomorphic characteristics in adult and larval stages. All the species are found in wet forest, swamps and swampy ground near rivers and streams. The genus was recently revised (Will 1999).

Species key to adults of Lophoglossus

1. Ventral sclerites of the meso and meta thorax punctate laterally...2
1'. Ventral sclerites of the meso and meta thorax impunctate)...7

2(1). Elytral microsculpture reticulate or granular, generally duller (same sex compared); male without subapical mesotibial spine, apical spine present...3
2'. Elytral microsculpture weak or obsolete, if present stretched, shinier (same sex compared);male with subapical mesotibial spine, apical spine small... L. scrutator (LeConte)

3(2). Pronotal hind angles obtusely rounded ... L. gravis LeConte
3'. Pronotal hind angles approximately right angled ...4

4(3'). Males,expanded protarsi ...5
4'. Females,protarsi simple...6

5(4). Metatibia with process over apical spur smaller, length less than 1.5 x width ... L. haldemanni (LeConte)
5'. Metatibia with process over apical spurs elongate, greater than 2 x width ... L. tartaricus (Say)

6(4').Elytral microsculpture granulate, dull; very large species 21 to 25mm) ... L. haldemanni (LeConte)
6'. Elytral microsculpture smooth, rather shiny, never granulate; smaller, 16 to 20mm ... L. tartaricus (Say)

7(1). Elytra with depressed area at the apexes of stria 3-5 ...8
7'. Elytra without depressed area at the apex, stria 3-5 uniformly convex, males with smallapical and large subapical mesotibial spines  ... L. scrutator (LeConte)

8(7'). Outer basal impression of the pronotum sharply delimited against a convex area along the explanate laterally margin; hind trochanter usually with distinct euventral flattened area ... L. vernix Casey
8'. Outer basal impression of the pronotum without a sharp demarcation laterally, broadly flattened to the explanate lateral margin; hind trochanter usually cylindrical or with a small and poorly defined flat euventral area ... L. substrenuus (Csiki)

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Support for monophyly comes from two synapomorphies that are character states not known from any other pterostichine genus
- presence of a lateral process on the median lobe of the aedeagus
- the prominent apophysis of the left paramere

Within the genus the following groups are supported

substrenuus-group (substrenuus , vernix)
- elyral tip with a depressed area near apex on striae 3-5
- the basal ensiform setae of gonocoxite II reduced or absent

(scrutator),((tartaricus)(haldemanni , gravis))
- mesotibia apical spine present
- last visible tergite distinctly thickened internally along apical margin
- left lateral sacculus of endophallus elongate
- meso and metathorax punctured ventrally

tartaricus-group ((tartaricus) (haldemanni , gravis))
- seta at hind angle of pronotum distant from the lateral margin
- loss of apical spine of mesotibia in males
- male abdomen with additional internal process
- tip of aedeagus dorsally hooked
- endophallus with sclerotized region at base of left lateral sacculus
- endophallus with well developed tricoid field
- elytral microsculpture isodiametric
- right paramere broad and blunt

(haldemanni , gravis)
- elytra dull due to granulate microsculpture
- male metatibial spine short
- right paramere wide
Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Lophoglossus haldemanni
Identified By K.Will
Life Cycle Stage Adult
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © Kipling Will
About This Page

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 2006. Lophoglossus. Version 07 July 2006 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Lophoglossus/51633/2006.07.07 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Lophoglossus

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top