Neorthopleura texana (Bland, 1863)

Chapman, Eric G., Leavengood, John M. & Dupuis, Julian R., 2025, The Cleridae and Thanerocleridae of eastern North America, with illustrated keys, updated distributions, and special emphasis on the Kentucky fauna, Zootaxa 5639 (1), pp. 1-88 : 50-51

Neorthopleura texana (Bland, 1863) ; Cleridae : Korynetinae (no tribal assignment)

Illustrations: Plate 3-G. Neorthopleura key, couplet 1-C, D, E

Distribution: Known primarily from TX in North America . Recorded from AZ, FL, LA and TX ( Opitz, 2013). Opitz (2013) presented a distribution map including southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, southwestern Georgia, and the entire state of Florida. However, the revision only included specimen data for Hernando County, Florida (1 specimen) and Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana (1 specimen), with none from Mississippi, Alabama, or Georgia. These are the only two specimens known east of Texas, and the Florida specimen identification was confirmed for this study. Opitz (2013, figure 162) likewise includes southern New Mexico in this distribution despite presenting no records. The authors have examined one additional specimen from Gainesville, Florida (JMLC) that calls to question the species limits between N. texana specimens with a lighter, redder prothorax (e.g., Opitz’s Florida specimen) and N. thoracica ; i.e., the black margins of the posterior and posterolateral pronotum.

Natural History: Opitz (2013) reported the following plant associations (infestations not noted): bushy lippia ( Lippia alba ), Lindheimer’s hackberry ( Celtis lindheimeri ), honey mesquite ( Prosopis glandulosa ) and thornless Chilean mesquite ( Prosopis chilensis ).

Comments: Opitz (2013; couplet 17) suggested that the pronotum is brown, contrasting the reddish-yellowish pronotum of N. thoracica . However, Opitz (2013; in Specimens Examined) presented numerous specimens of N. texana with matching color to N. thoracica but simply lacking the infuscate posterior and lateral margins of the pronotum.