Cyrtothyrea

Cyrtothyrea
C. testaceoguttata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Scarabaeidae
Subfamily:	Cetoniinae
Tribe:	Cetoniini
Genus:	Cyrtothyrea Kolbe, 1895

Cyrtothyrea is a small genus of Afrotropical chafer beetles. They are about 9 mm in size, black in colour with white dots or lines on the thorax, elytra and abdomen. Each species has its own distinctive pattern. Cyrtothyrea are active during the day, and are often found on flowers, while feeding on nectar. They are pollinators of several plant groups, including lily,^[1] orchid,^[2] protea^[3] and asclepiad species.^[4] In the case of Lilium formosanum, C. marginalis beetles feed on the anthers or force themselves deep down into the perianth tubes to feed on nectar. At times they contact the stigma, which may also be used as a launch pad for taking off.^[1]

Species

• Cyrtothyrea marginalis (Swartz, 1817)
• Cyrtothyrea rubriceps (Raffray, 1877)
• Cyrtothyrea rudebecki Schein, 1960
• Cyrtothyrea testaceoguttata (Blanchard, 1850)

• 

  C. marginalis

References

1. Rodger, James G.; van Kleunen, Mark; Johnson, Steven D. (May 2010). "Does Specialized Pollination Impede Plant Invasions?" (PDF). International Journal of Plant Sciences 171 (4): 382–391. doi:10.1086/651226. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
2. Peter, C. I.; Johnson, S. D. (9 October 2013). "A pollinator shift explains floral divergence in an orchid species complex in South Africa". Annals of Botany 113 (2): 277–288. doi:10.1093/aob/mct216. PMID 24107684.
3. de Vega, C.; Guzman, B.; Lachance, M.-A.; Steenhuisen, S.-L.; Johnson, S. D.; Herrera, C. M. (9 March 2012). "Metschnikowia proteae sp. nov., a nectarivorous insect-associated yeast species from Africa". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 62 (Pt 10): 2538–2545. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.040790-0. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
4. Shuttleworth, A.; Johnson, S.D. (October 2010). "Floral scents of chafer-pollinated asclepiads and a potential hybrid". South African Journal of Botany 76 (4): 770–778. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2010.07.023. Retrieved 9 November 2014.