Mariazofia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mariazofia | |
|---|---|
-South_Africa-Cape_Town-Signal_Hill_(1).jpg) | |
| Toktokkie beetle (Mariazofia spp.) in Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Tenebrionidae |
| Subtribe: | Molurina |
| Genus: | Mariazofia Kamiński, 2022[1] |
Mariazofia is a genus of ground-dwelling Afrotropical beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. They are among the largest of the darkling beetles. Like other genera within subtribe Molurina, adults of this genus engage in a behavior known as "substrate tapping", a form of sexual communication in which they produce vibrations by tapping their abdomen rhythmically on the ground to attract mates. Their common name, "tok-tok beetle" or "toktokkie beetle", is based on this behavior.[2]
The name of this genus —Mariazofia— is a portmanteau of the names of the daughters (Maria and Zofia) of the first author of the paper in which it is first described.[1]
Description
Mariazofia is black or dark rufous in color and stout in shape, and average about 2.6 centimetres (1.0 in) in body length. It is similar in appearance to Moluris, having confined patches of bristles on the abdomen in males, as well as a similar structure of the female abdominal terminalia. Mariazofia can be distinguished from Moluris because the head is prognathous in the case of Mariazofia, while it is hypognathous in Moluris. Also the pronotal disc is nonconvex in the case of Mariazofia, while it is convex in Moluris.[1]