Sternidius wiltii

(Horn, 1880)

Sternidius wiltii is a small longhorned beetle (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Acanthocinini) native to western North America. The Sternidius has undergone taxonomic revision, with previously synonymized under S. alpha later revalidated. Specimens are typically collected by beating branches of woody vegetation. The species is small enough to require pointing rather than direct pinning for proper curation.

Sternidius wiltii by (c) Cat, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Cat. Used under a CC-BY license.

Sternidius wiltii by (c) Hopper Museum, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Hopper Museum. Used under a CC-BY license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Sternidius wiltii: /stɛrˈnɪdiʊs ˈwɪltaɪ/

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Images

Habitat

Associated with woody vegetation; has been collected from New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana) and other woody plants in foothill of the Rocky Mountains.

Distribution

Western North America. Distribution records from Mexico (MX) and United States (US). Specific collection records include south-central Colorado (Las Animas County) in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near the Colorado-New Mexico state line.

Seasonality

have been collected in mid-to-late June.

Host Associations

Robinia neomexicana - occurrenceCollected by beating branches of New Mexico locust

Similar Taxa

Sternidius alphaS. wiltii was previously synonymized under S. alpha before being revalidated; S. alpha is broadly distributed and highly variable with multiple color variants across its range

More Details

Taxonomic history

The Sternidius experienced significant taxonomic changes when Chemsak synonymized multiple under S. alpha; these synonymies were later reversed and species including S. wiltii were revalidated. This history illustrates the importance of preserving historical identification labels in collections.

Specimen curation

Due to its small size, S. wiltii is typically mounted on points rather than pinned directly. This places it in the same size category as other small cerambycids such as Euderces and Lampropterus.