Glaresis
Glaresis is a genus of beetles, sometimes called "Enigmatic scarab beetles", in its own family, Glaresidae. It is closely related to, and was formerly included in, the family Scarabaeidae. Although its members occur in arid and sandy areas worldwide, only the nocturnal adults have ever been collected, and both the larvae and biology of Glaresis are as yet unknown. Due to their narrow habitat associations, a great number of these species occur in extremely limited geographic areas, and are accordingly imperiled by habitat destruction.
These beetles are small, 2.5–6 mm long, and have the stocky appearance typical of fossorial scarabs, with short, heavy, spurred legs. Color ranges from tan to dark brown, and the back is covered with short setae.
Efforts to raise glaresids in the laboratory were undertaken in the 1980s by C. H. Scholtz and others, but were unsuccessful.
Glaresis was originally classified with Trogidae, and has many characteristics of "primitive" scarabaeoids, but no affinities to any of the other primitive groups; recent work suggests that they may in fact belong in Trogidae. Scholtz argued that Glaresis is the most primitive type of scarabaeoid, but more recent research indicates that the Pleocomidae hold this position. The species in North, Central, and South America have been revised by Robert Gordon and Guy Hanley, January 2014, in the journal Insecta Mundi.
Species
Glaresis alfieriiGlaresis arabicaGlaresis arenataGlaresis australisGlaresis bajaensisGlaresis bautistaGlaresis beckeriGlaresis caenulentaGlaresis californiaGlaresis canadensisGlaresis carthagensisGlaresis cartwrightiGlaresis ceballosiGlaresis celiaeGlaresis clypeataGlaresis confusaGlaresis contrerasiGlaresis costaricensisGlaresis costataGlaresis dakotensisGlaresis dentataGlaresis desperataGlaresis donaldiGlaresis ecostataGlaresis exasperataGlaresis falliGlaresis foveolataGlaresis franziGlaresis freyiGlaresis fritziGlaresis frustrataGlaresis gineriGlaresis gordoniGlaresis handlirschiGlaresis hespericulaGlaresis hispanaGlaresis holmiGlaresis holzschuhiGlaresis howdeniGlaresis imitatorGlaresis impressicollisGlaresis inductaGlaresis kocheriGlaresis koenigsbaueriGlaresis limbataGlaresis lomiiGlaresis longisternumGlaresis mandibularisGlaresis maroccanaGlaresis mauritanicaGlaresis medialisGlaresis mendicaGlaresis methneriGlaresis minutaGlaresis mondacaiGlaresis montenegroGlaresis namibensisGlaresis obscuraGlaresis ordosensisGlaresis orientalisGlaresis oxianaGlaresis paramendicaGlaresis pardoalcaideiGlaresis pardoiGlaresis penrithaeGlaresis phoenicisGlaresis porrectaGlaresis quedenfeldtiGlaresis rufaGlaresis smithiGlaresis subulosaGlaresis texanaGlaresis thiniensisGlaresis tripolitanaGlaresis tumidaGlaresis villiersiGlaresis walzlaeGlaresis warneriGlaresis yanegaiGlaresis zacatecaGlaresis zarudnianaFossil species
- †Glaresis burmitica Cai and Huang 2018 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
- †Glaresis orthochilus Bai et al. 2010 Yixian Formation, China, Aptian
- †Glaresis tridentata Bai et al. 2014 Yixian Formation, China, Aptian