science

Spondylidinae

Spondylidinae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Spondylidinae rather than just read about it. In short: Spondylidinae (often misspelled "Spondylinae") are a small subfamily of Cerambycidae including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the coniferous forests of the Boreal hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas (Mexico, Cuba), while very few genera (e.g., Zamium) are present in Austral Africa and Madagascar (e.g., Masatopus).

Key takeaways

Spondylidinae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Spondylidinae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spondylidinae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Spondylidinae (often misspelled "Spondylinae") are a small subfamily of Cerambycidae including slightly over 100 species, primarily in the coniferous forests of the Boreal hemisphere. A few species occur in coniferous forests in tropical and subtropical areas (Mexico, Cuba), while very few genera (e.g., Zamium) are present in Austral Africa and Madagascar (e.g., Masatopus).

Description Spondylidinae are insects characterised by cerambycine aspect, generally with a more or less flattened, dark body, oblique head and scarcely elongated antennae. Their sexual dimorphism is scarcely evident; males and females are extremely similar. Unlike Cerambycinae, their stridulitrum is divided. The larvae are completely different from those of Cerambycinae and similar to those of Lepturinae in several respects, being characterised by a rounded head and large labrum. They also typically possess two closely spaced small spines on the last abdominal segment.

Adult Spondylidinae are nearly all nocturnal or crepuscular. Only the genus Tetropium, characterised by finely faceted eyes, has diurnal activity. The adults live on the host plants, taking refuge under barks or trunks during inactive periods.

Larva Except for some Saphanini (Saphanus, Drymochares) and Anisarthrini, the larvae of most of species attack conifers.

History Spondylidinae have a complicated systematic history, and details of the relationships are still uncertain. In 1897 Xambeu united the genera Spondylis, Asemum, Chriocephalus (now Arhopalus) and Tetropium in Spondyliens, on the basis of the larval morphology. Nevertheless, this classification was rejected by contemporaneous authors since Spondylis was believed to be related to Prioninae and Parandra. At that time most spondylidine genera were placed within the subfamily Aseminae. A later study of the wing morphology confirmed Xambeu's grouping, but by the end of the 20th Century (and in some contemporaneous faunas) Spondylidini were treated as a separate subfamily. Only after 1987, after further studies on the larval morphology, was it recognized that spondylidines and asemines were indeed part of the same group, rather than separate lineages. Spondylidini - whose larvae are indistinguishable from that of all other traditional Aseminae - appear to be simply highly derived Asemini, with adult morphology convergent with lucaniform Prioninae and the Vesperidae of the Amazon rainforest genus Migdolus. It has further complicated matters that various authors have misspelled the name of the group as "Spondylini" or "Spondylinae", but these are junior homonyms of Spondylidae Gray, 1826, a mollusc name.

Current systematics Spondylidinae (this name has priority over Aseminae) includes seven tribes. The number of species below is approximate and changes over time.

Anisarthrini Mamaev & Danilevsky, 1973 - (Africa, Europe, Asia), 9 species Asemini Thomson, 1860 - (Palearctic, North, Central, and South America, New Zealand, Australia), 43 species Atimiini LeConte, 1873 - (North America, Asia), 18 species Nothorhinini Zagajkevich, 1991 - (Europe, Asia, North America), 2 species in one genus (often placed within Asemini) Saphanini Gistel, 1856 - (Europe, western Asia, Africa, Madagascar, eastern U.S.), 45 species Spondylidini Audinet-Serville, 1832 - (Europe, Asia, North America, Mexico), 4 species Tetropiini Seidlitz, 1891 - (Europe, Asia, North America, Central America), 146 species in one genus (often placed within Asemini)

References

External links

Check-list of World-wide Spondylidinae Gallery of World-wide Spondylidinae Gallery of American Spondylidinae Gallery of Japanese Spondylidinae

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spondylidinae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spondylidinae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Spondylidinae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Spondylidinae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Spondylidinae

In research: Spondylidinae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Spondylidinae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Spondylidinae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cerambycidae, Polyphaga subfamilies, Spondylidinae, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spondylidinae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Spondylidinae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spondylidinae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Spondylidinae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spondylidinae in simple terms?

Why does Spondylidinae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Spondylidinae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Spondylidinae.