Images


This is a joint project between T.H. Atkinson, University of Texas at Austin, and S.M. Smith, Michigan State University. The two of us have taken the majority of the photographs included here, but have also worked to get photographs from other authors, notably Joel Buffam, Bjarte Jordal, Alexander Petrov, Jiri Hulcr, L.R. Kirkendall, and Steven Valley. Most of the primary types from the Natural History Museum (Washington, D.C., USNM) have been photographed by T.H. Atkinson and S.M. Smith. Both of us continue to add photographs of types from other museums, as well as those of species illustrated in our publications. Recently photographs of all primjary types of Scolytinae and Platypodinae in the Canadian National Collection (Ottawa) taken by Joel Buffam have been posted here. Due to the assistance of Michael Whiting (Brigham Young University) and the heirs of the late S.L. Wood we have been able to add all of the photographs used in plates in Wood's South American monograph (2007) (1669 images of 433 species).


Unlike sites such as Insect Images and Bugguide, all photographs and line drawings posted here are vetted for identification. Images that are considered taxonomically useful, specifically for purposes of identification are chosen. At present we do not include photographs of species in habitat, host damage or galleries. Our highest priorities are:


  1. High quality, stacked photographs of primary types of Scolytinae and Platypodinae. Most species described in the 19th and 20th centuries did not include useful illustrations to accompany verbal descriptions. In many cases these descriptions are short and completely inadequate for purposes of identification. Even in well studied areas such as the United States and Canada, species identification is difficult without a reference collection and library. In our opinion while photographs may not always allow a "positive identification" ("my specimen belongs to this species") they are very useful for "negative identifications" ("I can eliminate this species as a possibility").

  2. Photographs of specimens that can be matched to specific collection localities, preferablly to specimens in museums. This is particularly useful for both sexes of species with pronounced sexual dimorphism or specimens that demonstrate intraspecific variability. With this in mind, we welcome photos of additional specimens. No single specimen (or photgraphs of same) easily shows all relevant characters. A specimen with no label data would typically not be retained in a research collection. Likewise, specimens with no data are of limited value in resolving taxonomic questions.

  3. We continue to post some photos of specimens without data, especially for species not otherwise shown.

The image gallery includes 33760 images from 3680 species of bark and ambrosia beetles. These are mostly color photographs created by stacking (montaging) multiple images. Also included are some scanning electron microscope photographs and line drawings. Most species are from the Americas, but this is not a requirement. A growing number of Old World species are included.


Images can be accessed through several means:



While some of these have been published, most have not been including some of undescribed species. Higher quality versions of images shown here must be requested directly from their authors or institutions.


Published images included in galleries are taken from the following 59 publications


  1. Anonymous 2012. Bugguide.net . Bugguide.net (downloaded March, 2012).
  2. Atkinson, T.H. 1989. New species and notes on Mexican Hylesininae (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Insecta Mundi 3(1): 57-64.
  3. Atkinson, T.H. 1989. New synonymy, new species, and notes on Scolytidae (Coleoptera) from southeastern United States. Coleopterists Bull. 43(4): 325-337.
  4. Atkinson, T.H. 1989. The species of Platypus of Florida (Coleoptera: Platypodidae). Fla. Dept. Agric. Cons. Serv. Div. Plant Indus. Entomol. Circ. (Tri-ology) 321: 1-4.
  5. Atkinson, T.H. 1993. A new species of Trischidias (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) from southern Florida with a key to the species of the southeastern United States. . Fla. Entomol. 76: 416-423.
  6. Atkinson, T.H. 1993. A new species of Pityophthorus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) from southern Florida with a key to the Florida species. Fla. Entomol. 76: 608-616.
  7. Atkinson, T.H. 2009. A new species of Dryocoetoides Hopkins from southern Florida (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Zootaxa 2311: 66-68.
  8. Atkinson, T.H. 2010. New species and records of Cactopinus Schwarz with a key to species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Zookeys 56: 17-33.
  9. Atkinson, T.H. 2016. A new species of Cactopinus Schwarz from central Mexico (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Zootaxa 4189(1): 196-200.
  10. Atkinson, T.H. 2020. New species, new records and synonymy of Mexican Corthylus Erichson, 1834 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Insecta Mundi 792: 1-25.
  11. Atkinson, T.H.; Flechtmann, C.A.H.F. 2021. New species, new records and synonymy of Brazilian species of Hypothenemus Westwood, 1834 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Insecta Mundi 846: 1-33.
  12. Atkinson, T.H.; Martínez F., E, Saucedo C., E, Burgos S., A 1986. Scolytidae y Platypodidae (Coleoptera) asociados a selva baja caducifolia y comunidades derivadas en el estado de Morelos. Fol. Entomol. Mex. 69: 41-82.
  13. Atkinson, T.H.; Petrov, A.V.; Flechtmann, C.A.H.F. 2018. New records and combinations in Neotropical Premnobius Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Ipini) with an illustrated key to New World species. Insecta Mundi 658: 1-11.
  14. Atkinson, T.H.; Saucedo C.; E, Martínez F.; E, Burgos S., A 1986. Coleópteros Scolytidae y Platypodidae asociados con las comunidades vegetales de clima templado y frío en el estado de Morelos. Acta Zool. Mex. 17: 1-58.
  15. Blackman, M.W. 1942. Revision of the genus Phloeosinus Chapuis in North America (Coleoptera, Scolytidae). Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 92: 397-474.
  16. Blackman, M.W. 1943. New genera and species of neotropical bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 33: 34-38.
  17. Blackman, M.W. 1943. New genera and species of bark beetles of the subfamily Micracinae (Scolytidae, Coleoptera). Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 93: 341-365.
  18. Blandford, W.F.H. 1896. Scolytidae. Biol.Centrali-Americana 4(6): 97-144.
  19. Blandford, W.F.H. 1897. Scolytidae. Biol.Centrali-Americana 4(6): 145-184.
  20. Blandford, W.F.H. 1898. Scolytidae. Biol.Centrali-Americana 4(6): 185-224.
  21. Blandford, W.F.H. 1904. Scolytidae. Biol.Centrali-Americana 4(6): 225-280.
  22. Blandford, W.F.H. 1905. Fam. Scolytidae. Biol.Centrali-Americana 4(6): 281-298.
  23. Bright, D.E. 1972. New species of Scolytidae (Coleoptera) from Mexico, with additional notes. II. Subfamilies Scolytinae and Hylesininae. Can. Entomol. 104: 1489-1497.
  24. Bright, D.E. 1972. New species of Scolytidae (Coleoptera) from Mexico, with additional notes. I. Tribes Xyleborini and Corthylini. Can. Entomol. 104: 1369-1385.
  25. Bright, D.E. 1982. Scolytidae (Coleoptera) from the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica, with a description of one new species. Coleopt. Bull. 36(1): 127-130.
  26. Bright, D.E. 1991. Studies in Xyleborini 2. Review of the genus Sampsonius Eggers (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 26(1): 11-28.
  27. Bright, D.E. 2019. A Taxonomic Monograph of the Bark and Ambrosia Beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea: Scolytidae).. Occ. Pap. Florida State Coll. Arth. (12): 1-491.
  28. Burgos Solorio, A.; Atkinson, T.H. 2022. New species and new records of Chaetophloeus LeConte (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) from Mexico. Zootaxa 5174 (1): 73-84.
  29. Cognato, A.I. 2018. Callibora Cognato (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Xyleborini), a New Genus of Xyleborine Ambrosia Beetle from Ecuador. Coleopterists Bull. 72(4): 801-805.
  30. Edson, L.J. 1967. An annotated and illustrated key to species of the genus Scolytus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) attacking coniferous trees of the Neartic Region. M.S. Thesis, Humboldt State College, Eureka, California.
  31. Halbert, S.E. 2011. Entomology section. Tri-ology 50(3): 6-9.
  32. Hopping, G.R. 1965. The North American species in Group X of Ips DeGeer (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Can. Entomol. 97(8): 803-809.
  33. Hopping, G.R. 1965. The North American species in Group IX of Ips DeGeer (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Can. Entomol. 97(4): 422-434.
  34. Hulcr, J. 2012. Xyleborini Ambrosia Beetles (http://xyleborini.myspecies.info/gallery). http://xyleborini.myspecies.info/gallery (last accessed October 22, 2012).
  35. Jordal, B.H. 2013. New species and records of Scolytodes (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Scolytinae) from South America. Zootaxa 3721(6): 529-551.
  36. Labonte, J.R., Takahashi, C.Y. 2012. Dactylotrypes longicollis (Wollaston) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae): an exotic bark beetle new to California and North America. Pan-Pacific Ent. 88(2): 222-230.
  37. Okins,K.E.; Thomas,M.C. 2010. New North American Record for Xyleborinus andrewesi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Fla. Ent. 93(1): 133-134.
  38. Petrov, A.V. 2007. A new species of the genus Camptocerus Latreille (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) from Peru. Russ. Ent. J. 16(1): 101-102.
  39. Petrov, A.V. 2009. New data on bark beetles of the genus Pseudothysanoes Blackman 1920 (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) with description of one new species from Peru. Lesnoy Vetsnik 68(5) : 128-130.
  40. Petrov, A.V. 2014. A new genus and two new species of Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Peru. Les. Vestn. 18(6): 149-154.
  41. Petrov, A.V.; Atkinson, T.H. 2018. New species of neotropical Ipini Bedel, 1888 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Russ. Entomol. J. 27: 41-45.
  42. Petrov, A.V.; Mandelshtam, M.Y. 2009. New data on ambrosia-beetles of the genus Sampsonius Eggers, 1935 with descriptions of two new species from Peru (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Koleopt. Rund. 79: 313-319.
  43. Petrov, A.V.; Mandelshtam, M.Y. 2010. New data on Neotropical Scolytus Geoffroy, 1762 with description of five new species from Peru (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae). Zookeys 56: 65-104.
  44. Rabaglia,R.J.; Knizek,M.; Johnson,W. 2010. First records of Xyleborinus octiesdentatus (Murayama) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) from North America . Zookeys 56: 219-226.
  45. Schiefer,T.L.; Bright,D.E. 2004. Xylosandrus mutilatus (Blandford), an exotic ambrosia (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Xyleborini) new to North America. Coleop. Bull. 3: 431-438.
  46. Smith, S.M. 2017. Dinoxyleborus Smith, a new genus of Neotropical xyleborine ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Zootaxa 4303(1): 131-139.
  47. Smith, S.M.; Cognato, A.I. 2013. A New Species of Scolytus Geoffroy, 1762 and Taxonomic Changes Regarding Neotropical Scolytini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Coleop. Bull. 67(4): 547-556.
  48. Smith, S.M.; Cognato, A.I. 2017. Camptocerus lucwildi Smith and Cognato, new species (Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Scolytini) from Ecuador . Camptocerus lucwildi Smith and Cognato, new species (Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Scolytini) from Ecuador Coleopterists Bull. 71(3): 445-448.
  49. Smith, S.M.; Cognato, A.I. 2021. A Revision of the Neotropical genus Coptoborus Hopkins (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Xyleborini). ZooKeys 1044: 609-720.
  50. Wood, S.L. 1956. New species of bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), mostly Mexican, Part III. Can. Entomol. 88(6): 247-258.
  51. Wood, S.L. 1956. New species of bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), mostly Mexican, Part I. Can. Entomol. 88(4): 141-154.
  52. Wood, S.L. 1956. New species of bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), mostly Mexican, Part II. Can. Entomol. 88(5): 231-240.
  53. Wood, S.L. 1966. New records and species of neotropical Platypodidae (Coleoptera). Great Basin Naturalist 26 (3-4): 45-70.
  54. Wood, S.L. 1967. New species of bark beetles, (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), mostly Mexican, Part VII. Great Basin Naturalist 27(1): 36-57.
  55. Wood, S.L. 1968. A key to the species of Cnesinus LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) of North and Central America. Great Basin Nat. 28(2): 88-110.
  56. Wood, S.L. 1968. New records and species of neotropical bark beetles (Scolytidae: Coleoptera), Part III. Great Basin Nat. 28(1): 1-15.
  57. Wood, S.L. 1971. New records and species of neotropical bark beetles (Scolytidae: Coleoptera), Part V. Brigham Young Univ. Sci. Bull. Biol. Ser. 15(3): 1-54.
  58. Wood, S.L. 2007. Bark and ambrosia beetles of South America (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Monte L. Bean Science Museum. Provo, Utah: 1-900.