The Nature LibraryEN·ES
iNat·1127382SpeciesInsecta0 field observations
  1. Animals
  2. ›Arthropods
  3. ›Hexapods
  4. ›Insects
  5. ›Winged and Once-winged Insects
  6. ›Beetles
  7. ›Reticulated and Telephone-pole Beetles
  8. ›Jurodidae
  9. ›Sikhotealinia
No photograph on file

Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae

Sikhotealinia is a genus of beetle containing a single species, known from a single specimen, Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae, which is considered to be the only living representative of the family Jurodidae, with the other members of the family being known only from fossils uncovered in Transbaikal. It was discovered in 1996 along the environs of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range in Outer Manchuria within Russia's Far East region. This "living fossil" is apparently unique in having three ocelli on its forehead, a condition otherwise unknown in the entire order Coleoptera, whether extinct or living – though it is common in other orders, and generally considered a groundplan character for neopteran insects. Sikhotealinia and its extinct relative Jurodes are considered as a sister group to all other archostematan beetles. However, the claims that Sikhotealinia belongs to Archostemata, and that it has three ocelli, have not been independently confirmed.

Its uncovering within the Sikhote-Alin has been a rare discovery within the family Jurodidae, which has been called "most mysterious representatives of beetles." However, nothing else has yet been currently established with regards to the original area of distribution, the habitat, the biology and the immature stages of this species.

Continue reading on Wikipedia
§·

Listen

Looking for field recordings…

§·

Where it lives

Recorded sightings

—

geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.

§·

In the stacks

Searching the stacks…

Every page naming Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1127382.