Spondylidinae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Coleopterida
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Cucujiformia
Cladus: Phytophaga
Superfamilia: Chrysomeloidea

Familia: Cerambycidae
Subfamilia: Spondylidinae
Tribus: Anisarthronini - Asemini - Atimiini - Saphanini - Spondylidini

[list of tribus after Bousquet, Heffern, Bouchard & Nearns (2009)]
Name

Spondylidinae Audinet-Serville, 1832
Synonymy

Asemidae Webb, 1912
Aseminae (Thomson)
Asemitae Thomson, 1860
Criocephalites Fairmaire in Jacquelin du Val, 1864
Spondyliens Mulsant, 1839
Spondylina Plavilshchikov
Spondylinae (Audinet-Serville)
Spondylitae Thomson, 1860
Spondylites Blanchard, 1945
Tetropiidae Joly, 1932

References

Audinet-Serville, J.G. 1832. Annls Soc. ent. France, 1: 123 (Spondylii).
Bousquet, Y., Heffern, D.J., Bouchard, P. & Nearns, E.H. 2009. Catalogue of family-group names in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Zootaxa 2321: 1–80. Abstract & excerpt PDF Reference page.
Miguel A. Monné, Larry G. Bezark & Frank T. Hovore, Compilers 2007: Checklist of the Cerambycidae, or longhorned beetles (Coleoptera) of the Western Hemisphere. Electronic Version. [1]
Worldwide Cerambycoidea Photo Gallery at cerambycoidea.com. Spondylidinae
Hayashi, M., K. Morimoto and S. Kimoto, 1984. The Coleoptera of Japan in Color, vol. IV, Hoikusha (Osaka). ISBN 4-586-30071-X (Spondylinae).
The Japanese Society of Coleopterology (eds.), 1984. The Longicorn-Beetles of Japan in Color, Kodansha(Tokyo). ISBN 4-06-124045-5 (Spondylinae).
Michal Hoskovec, Martin Rejžek, Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) of the West Palearctic region. Spondylidinae
I.Löbl & A.Smetana (eds). 2010 Catalogue of Palearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 6: Chrysomeloidea. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, Denmark
ISBN 978-87-88757-84-2, p. 137
Ohbayashi, N., M. Satô and K. Kojima, 1992. An Illustrated Guide to Identification of Longicorn Beetle of Japan, Tokai University Press (Tokyo). ISBN 4-486-01181-3 (Spondylinae).
The Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Illustrated index of the tribe to the atlas of long-horned beetles (Cerambycidae) of Russia
Özdikmen, H. & Turgut, S. 2006: A zoogeographical review of Spondylidinae in Turkey (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Munis Entomology & Zoology 1 (2): 279–288. [2]

Spondylidinae are a small subfamily of Cerambycidae including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the coniferous forests of the Boreal hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas (Mexico, Cuba), while very few genera (e.g., Zamium) are present in Austral Africa and Madagascar (e.g., Masatopus).

Morphology
Adult

Spondylidinae are insects characterised by cerambycine aspect, generally with a more or less flattened, dark body, oblique head and scarcely elongated antennae. Their sexual dimorphism is scarcely evident, that i,s males and females are scarcely distinguishable. Unlike Cerambycinae, their stridulitrum is divided.
Larva

The larvae are completely different from those of Cerambycinae and similar to those of Lepturinae in several respects, being characterised by a rounded head and large labrum. They also typically possess two closely spaced small spines on the last abdominal segment.
Biology
Adult

Spondylidinae are nearly all nocturnal or crepuscular. Only the genus Tetropium, characterised by finely faceted eyes, has diurnal activity. The adults live on the host plants, taking refuge under barks or trunks during inactive periods.
Larva

Except for some Saphanini (Saphanus, Drymochares) and Anisarthrini, the larvae of most of species attack conifers.
Taxonomy
History

Spondylidinae have a complicated systematic history, and details of the relationships are still uncertain. In 1897 Xambeu[2] united the genera Spondylis, Asemum, Chriocephalus (now Arhopalus) and Tetropium in Spondyliens, on the basis of the larval morphology. Nevertheless, this classification was rejected by contemporaneous authors since Spondylis was believed to be related to Prioninae and Parandra.[3] At that time most spondylidine genera were placed within the subfamily Aseminae. A later study of the wing morphology[4] confirmed Xambeu's grouping, but by the end of the 20th Century (and in some contemporaneous faunas) Spondylidini were treated as a separate subfamily. Only after 1987,[5] after further studies on the larval morphology, was it recognized that spondylidines and asemines were indeed part of the same group, rather than separate lineages. Spondylidini - whose larvae are indistinguishable from that of all other traditional Aseminae - appear to be simply highly derived Asemini, with adult morphology convergent with lucaniform Prioninae and the Vesperidae of the Amazon rainforest genus Migdolus.
Current systematics

Spondylidinae (this name has priority over Aseminae) includes five tribes.[6]

Anisarthrini Mamaev & Danilevsky, 1973
Asemini Thomson, 1860
Atimiini LeConte, 1873
Saphanini Gistel, 1856
Spondylidini Audinet-Serville, 1832

References

"Spondylidinae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Xambeu F., 1897-1902. Moeurs et métamorphoses des insectes, 8e Mémoire, Longicornes . L'echange (pagination spéciale) 151-209: 220 pp. + 1 Tab.
Lameere A., 1913. Cerambycidae: Prioninae. Coleopterorum Catalogus 52, S. Schenkling, Berlin, 108 pp.
Saalas U., 1936. Über das Flügelgeäder und die phylogenetische Entwicklung der Cerambyciden. Annales Zoologici Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo 4 (1): 1-193.
Švácha P. & Danilevsky M. L., 1987. Cerambycoid larvae of Europe and Soviet Union (Coleoptera Cerambycoidea). Part Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 30: 1-176.
Zicha O. BioLib. Retrieved on 24 June 2015.