Abstract
The beetle family Oedemeridae from Norfolk Island is reviewed. Two species are known from the island group. Baculipalpus mirus (Lea, 1917) comb. nov. is transferred from the genus Copidita LeConte, 1866 and redescribed based on specimens from Norfolk Island. Baculipalpus grandichelus sp. nov. is described from Norfolk Island specimens but is also suspected to occur in New Caledonia based on photographic evidence. It can easily be distinguished from other species in the genus by the greatly enlarged maxillary palps of the male and the highly modified aedeagus. A COI barcode is provided for a paratype specimen of the newly described species. Discussion is given to the systematics, biogeography, ecology, and conservation of these species.
References
- ABRS (2026) Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Available from: https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/home (accessed 8 March 2026)
- Akiyama, H. (2013a) A new genus and species (Coleoptera, Oedemeridae) from West Papua, Indonesia. Elytra, 3 (1), 145–148.
- Akiyama, H. (2013b) Two new species of the genus Schistopselaphus (Coleoptera, Oedmeridae) from Papua New Guinea. Elytra, 3 (1), 139–143.
- Akiyama, H., Niisato, T. & Chou, W.-I. (2024) Taxonomic study of the family Oedemeridae Latreille, 1810 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionoidea) in Taiwan. Elytra, 14 (2), 123–206.
- Arnett, R.H. (1951) A revision of the Nearctic Oedemeridae (Coleoptera). The American Midland Naturalist, 45 (2), 257–391. https://doi.org/10.2307/2421732
- Arnett, R.H. (1961) Contribution towards a monograph of the Oedemeridae 14. A key to and notes on the New World genera. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 15 (2), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.372269
- Beutel, R.G. & Lawrence, J.F. (2016) 4. Coleoptera, Morphology. In: Beutel, R.G. & Leschen, R.A.B. (Eds.), Handbook of Zoology, Arthropoda: Insecta. Coleoptera, Beetles Volume 1: Morphology and Systematics. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York, pp. 35–40. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110373929-007
- Broun, T. (1880) Manual of New Zealand Coleoptera – Part I. Colonial Museum & Geological Survey Department, Wellington, 651 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/t.173101
- Carrel, J.E., Doom, J.P. & McCormick, J.P. (1986) Identification of cantharidin in false blister beetles (Coleoptera, Oedemeridae) from florida. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 12 (3), 741–747. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01012106
- Cassis, G., Meades, L., Harris, R., Reid, C., Carter, G., Wilkie, L. & Jeffreys, E. (2003) Lord Howe Island: terrestrial invertebrate biodiversity and conservation. Australian Museum, Sydney, 161 pp.
- Commonwealth of Australia (2025) Norfolk Island region threatened species recovery plan. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, 416 pp.
- Eco Logical Australia (2021) Norfolk Island fire management plan. Prepared for Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, Norfolk Island, 74 pp.
- Fabricius, J.C. (1775) Systema entomologiae: sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. Officina Libraria Kortii, Flensburgi et Lipsiae, 832 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.36510
- Fairmaire, L. (1896) Coléoptères de l’Inde boréale, Chine et Malaisie. Notes from the Leyden Museum, 18, 81–129.
- Giglio, A., Perrotta, E., Talarico, F., Zetto Brandmayr, T. & Ferrero, E.A. (2013) Sensilla on maxillary and labial palps in a helicophagous ground beetle larva (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Acta Zoologica, 94 (3), 324–330. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6395.2011.00558.x
- Gistel, J.N.F.X. (1848) Faunula monacensis cantharologica. Isis von Oken, 41, [11].
- Hajibabaei, M., deWaard, J.R., Ivanova, N.V., Ratnasingham, S., Dooh, R.T., Kirk, S.L., Mackie, P.M. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2005) Critical factors for assembling a high volume of DNA barcodes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 360, 1959–1967. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1727
- Hall, L.P., Graves, F., Myrick, A., Hoover, K. & Baker, T.C. (2019) Labial and maxillary palp recordings of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, reveal olfactory and hygroreceptive capabilities. Journal of Insect Physiology, 117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103905
- Hebert, P.D.N., Penton, E.H., Burns, J.M., Janzen, D.H. & Hallwachs, W. (2004) Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the neotropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 101 (41), 14812–14817. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0406166101
- Holloway, J.D. (1977) The Lepidoptera of Norfolk Island, their biogeography and ecology. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, 291 pp.
- Hudson, L. (1975) A systematic revision of the New Zealand Oedemeridae (Coleoptera, Insecta). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 5 (3), 227–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.1975.10421850
- Invasive Species Council and TierraMar (2021) The native plant communities of Norfolk Island. Invasive Species Council, Katoomba, New South Wales, 30 pp.
- IUCN (2012) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1 (2 ed.). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 32 pp.
- IUCN (2026) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-2. Available from: https://www.iucnredlist.org (accessed 29 March 2026)
- Kumar, S., Stecher, G., Li, M., Knyaz, C. & Tamura, K. (2018) MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35 (6), 1547–1549. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096
- Kuschel, G. (1963) Composition and relationship of the terrestrial faunas of Easter, Juan Fernandez, Desventuradas, and Galápagos islands. Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences, 44, 79–95. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.2341
- Latreille, P.A. (1810) Considérations générales sur l’ordre naturel des animaux composant les classes des crustacès, des arachnides, et des insectes; avec un tableau méthodique de leurs genres, disposés en familles. F. Schoell, Paris, 444 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.34917
- Lawrence, J.F. (2005) Dasytomima, a new genus of Australian Oedemeridae and its relationship to Polypria Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea). Annales Zoologici, 55 (4), 663–676.
- Lawrence, J.F., Beutel, R.G., Leschen, R.A.B. & Ślipiński, A. (2010) 2. Glossary of Morphological Terms. In: Kükenthal, W., Leschen, R.A.B., Beutel, R.G. & Lawrence, J.F. (Eds.), Handbook of Zoology, Arthropoda: Insecta. Coleoptera, Beetles Volume 2: Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim). De Gruyter, Berlin, New York, pp. 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911213.9
- Lawrence, J.F. & Britton, E.B. (1991) Coleoptera (beetles). In: Naumann, I.D. (Ed.), The insects of Australia: a textbook for students and research workers. Vol. 2. Collingwood, pp. 543–683.
- Lawrence, J.F. & Britton, E.B. (1994) Australian beetles. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 192 pp. https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643100695
- Lawrence, J.F. & Ślipiński, A. (2010) 11.18. Oedemeridae Latreille, 1810. In: Kükenthal, W., Leschen, R.A.B., Beutel, R.G. & Lawrence, J.F. (Eds.), Handbook of Zoology, Arthropoda: Insecta. Coleoptera, Beetles Volume 2: Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim). De Gruyter, Berlin, New York, pp. 674–681. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911213.674
- Lawrence, J.F. & Ślipiński, A. (2013) Australian beetles: Volume 1, morphology, classification and keys. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 561 pp. https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643097292
- Lawrence, J.F., Zhou, Y.-L., Lemann, C., Sinclair, B. & Ślipiński, A. (2021) The hind wing of Coleoptera (Insecta): morphology, nomenclature and phylogenetic significance. Part 1. General discussion and Archostemata–Elateroidea. Annales Zoologici, 71 (3), 421–606. https://doi.org/10.3161/00034541ANZ2021.71.3.001
- Lawrence, J.F., Zhou, Y.-L., Lemann, C., Sinclair, B. & Ślipiński, A. (2022) The hind wing of Coleoptera (Insecta): morphology, nomenclature and phylogenetic significance. Part 2. Further discussion, Histeroidea, Bostrichoidea to Curculionoidea. Annales Zoologici, 72 (3), 433–755. https://doi.org/10.3161/00034541ANZ2022.72.3.004
- Lea, A.M. (1904) Descriptions of new species of Australian Coleoptera. Part VII. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 29, 60–107. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.20155
- Lea, A.M. (1917) Notes on some miscellaneous Coleoptera, with descriptions of new species. Part III. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 41, 121–322.
- LeConte, J.L. (1866) New species of North American Coleoptera. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 167 (1), 1–177. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.17758
- Lindstedt, C., Boncoraglio, G., Cotter, S., Gilbert, J. & Kilner, R.M. (2017) Aposematism in the burying beetle? Dual function of anal fluid in parental care and chemical defense. Behavioral Ecology, 28 (6), 1414–1422. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx100
- Macnamara, J.P. (1965) The origin of the Pacific fauna of Oedemeridae: the Oedemeridae of Micronesia. University Microfilms Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, 115 pp.
- Martoni, F., Tweed, J.M.H., Blacket, M.J. & Percy, D.M. (2025) An annotated checklist of the psyllids (Hemiptera, Psylloidea) of Norfolk Island with keys to species, new records, and descriptions of two new endemic species. ZooKeys, 1238, 297–348. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1238.124535
- Martoni, F., Valenzuela, I. & Blacket, M.J. (2019) Non-destructive DNA extractions from fly larvae (Diptera: Muscidae) enable molecular identification of species and enhance morphological features. Austral Entomology, 58 (4), 848–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/aen.12419
- Mecke, R., Galileo, M.H.M. & Engels, W. (2001) New records of insects associated with Araucaria trees: phytophagous Coleoptera and Hymenoptera and their natural enemies. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 36 (2), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.1076/snfe.36.2.113.2132
- Mizota, K. (1999) A new genus and species of Asclerini (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae) from the Yaeyama Islands (Japan) and Taiwan. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 53 (3), 287–292.
- Moore, B.P. & Brown, W.V. (1989) Graded levels of chemical defence in mimics of lycid beetles of the genus Metriorrhynchus (Coleoptera). Australian Journal of Entomology, 28 (4), 229–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1989.tb00889.x
- Mora-Castro, R., Alfaro-Córdoba, M., Hernández-Jiménez, M., Fernández Otárola, M., Méndez-Rivera, M., Ramírez-Morales, D., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, C.E., Durán-Rodríguez, A. & Hanson, P.E. (2021) First evidence for an aposematic function of a very common color pattern in small insects. PLOS One, 16 (2), e0237288. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237288
- Motschulsky, V. (1853) Excursions entomologiques de 1852, jusqu’en hiver (continuation). Études Entomologiques, 1, 68–80.
- Nicholls, D.S.H., Christmas, T.I. & Greig, D.E. (1990) Oedemerid blister beetle dermatosis: a review. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 22 (5, Part 1), 815–819. https://doi.org/10.1016/0190-9622(90)70114-W
- Otte, D. & Rentz, D.C.F. (1985) The crickets of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands (Orthoptera, Gryllidae). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 137, 79–101.
- Peck, S.B. & Cook, J. (2003) A review of the Oedemeridae (Coleoptera) of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Belgian Journal of Entomology, 5, 89–102.
- Petheram, C., Taylor, A., Hughes, J., Philip, S., Raiber, M., Tavener, N., Greenwood, D., Taylor, N., Wilson, P.R., Turnadge, C., Yang, A., Seo, L., Davies, P., Vanderzalm, J., Davis, A., Crane, P., Gallant, J., Ahmed, W., Rogers, L., Ticehurst, C., Marvanek, S., Christoph, G., Bui, E., Grice, T., Crosbie, R., Metcalfe, S., Fitzpatrick, R., Schepen, A., Levick, S., Nobbs, C., Cahill, K. & Vaze, J. (2020) Norfolk Island Water Resource Assessment. CSIRO, Australia, 308 pp.
- Pic, M. (1924) Mélanges exotico-entomologiques. Quarante-deuxième fascicule. Imprimeries Réunies, Moulins, 33 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.52304
- Plata-Negrache, P. & Alonso-Zarazaga, M.A. (2006) Nacerdochroa concolor (Brullé, 1839) (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae): taxonomy, ecology, life cycle and larval instars. Zootaxa, 1373, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1373.1.2
- Rentz, D.C.F. (1988) The orthopteroid insects of Norfolk Island, with descriptions and records of some related species from Lord Howe Island, South Pacific. Invertebrate Taxonomy, 2, 1013–1077. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9881013
- Rozen, J.G. (1960) Phylogenetic-systematic study of larval Oedemeridae (Coleoptera). Miscellaneous publications of the Entomological Society of America, 1. https://doi.org/10.4182/UAHQ8405.1-2.35
- Ślipiński, A., Leschen, R.A.B. & Lawrence, J.F. (2011) Order Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.), Animal biodiversity: an introduction to higher-level classification and taxonomic richness. Vol. 3148. Magnolia Press, Auckland, pp. 203–208. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.39
- Sreedevi, K., Sree Chandana, P., Correya, J.C., Shashank, P.R., Singh, S. & Veenakumari, K. (2022) Economically important wood feeding insects: their diversity, damage and diagnostics. In: Sundararaj, R. (Ed.), Science of wood degradation and its protection. Springer Singapore, Singapore, pp. 115–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8797-6_4
- St Clair, J.J.H. (2011) The impacts of invasive rodents on island invertebrates. Biological Conservation, 144 (1), 68–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.006
- Stenger, P.L. (2020) iNaturalist observation: 63924559. Available from: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63924559 (accessed 24 March 2025)
- Švihla, V. (1986) Revision of the generic classification of the Old World Oedemeridae (Coleoptera). Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B, Historia Naturalis, 41 (1985) (3–4), 141–238.
- Švihla, V. & Akiyama, H. (2009) New species of the family Oedemeridae (Coleoptera) from south-eastern Asia. Entomologica Basiliensia et Collectionis Frey, 31, 89–99.
- Švihla, V. & Ramírez Fischer, F. (2012) Parisopalpus defoei sp. nov. from Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, the first known species of the genus from the Neotropical Region (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae). Zootaxa, 3394, 31–34. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3394.1.3
- Vázquez, X.A. (1996) Revision of the Southern African Oedemeridae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionoidea). Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Zoologisches Museum und Institut für Spezielle Zoologie (Berlin), 72 (1), 83–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnz.19960720109
- Westwood, J.O. (1875) Descriptions of new Heteromerous Coleoptera. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 23, 223–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1875.tb01909.x
