Cissites
Guides
Cissites auriculata
big-eared blister beetle
Cissites auriculata is one of two described species in the genus Cissites (family Meloidae), distinguished from the closely related C. maculata by constant morphological features including head shape, antennae length, thorax shape, first metatarsal segment length, and elytral coloration. Mitochondrial COI sequence divergence of 14.5% from C. maculata indicates ancient cladogenetic separation. The species is widely distributed in Central America and the Caribbean, with regional sympatry with C. maculata occurring in central Mexico. It has not colonized South America.