Polytopic
Guides
Crossidius coralinus
Red and Black Long-horned Beetle
Crossidius coralinus is a strikingly colored longhorned beetle in the family Cerambycidae, described by LeConte in 1862. Adults emerge in late August and September to feed and mate on yellow flowers of their larval host plant, gray rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa). The species exhibits extensive geographic variation in coloration and size, with numerous described subspecies and locally distinct populations across western North America. Some populations display bright red and black coloration, while others are orange and black.
Crossidius coralinus ascendens
Crossidius coralinus ascendens is a subspecies of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) in the genus Crossidius, a strictly North American group. This subspecies occurs in California and exhibits the characteristic red-and-black coloration of C. coralinus, with males showing variable development of black elytral markings (thin to moderately expanded sutural stripes) while females typically display more consistently expanded black areas. Adults emerge in late August and September to feed on yellow flowers of Ericameria nauseosa (gray rabbitbrush), their larval host plant. The subspecies was described by Linsley in 1957 and is one of several geographically segregated populations within the highly polytopic C. coralinus species complex.
Crossidius coralinus temprans
Crossidius coralinus temprans is a subspecies of longhorned beetle in the tribe Trachyderini, described by Linsley & Chemsak in 1961. It is distinguished from other C. coralinus subspecies by its deep red coloration with faint bluish overtones, relatively fine but dense elytral punctation, and smaller average size. Females exhibit broadly expanded black elytral patterns extending along the suture to at least the basal third of the elytra and black humeri connected by a basal band, while males typically show reduced black markings. The subspecies occurs in sagebrush grasslands of western Nevada and Lassen County, California, where adults are found on flower heads of gray rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).
Crossidius hirtipes flavescens
Crossidius hirtipes flavescens is a subspecies of longhorned beetle in the tribe Trachyderini, originally described as C. rhodopus flavescens by Chemsak & Linsley in 1959 and later transferred to C. hirtipes by Linsley & Chemsak in 1961. It is one of 16 recognized subspecies of C. hirtipes, a species characterized as 'probably the most diverse species within the genus.' The subspecies is known from a restricted area around Kennedy Meadow in Tulare County, California, and has been documented on yellow rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus).
Crossidius hirtipes rhodopus
Crossidius hirtipes rhodopus is a subspecies of longhorned beetle in the tribe Trachyderini, originally described as a full species by Linsley in 1955 but later treated as a subspecies of the highly polytopic C. hirtipes. It is endemic to the Mono Basin of east-central California and is among the most distinctive of all C. hirtipes subspecies due to its dark reddish-brown coloration. Adults are active in late summer and early fall, feeding on flower heads of yellow rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus).