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Hispines of the World

Identify hispine beetles to genus

Hispines comprise half of the subfamily Cassidinae (sensu lato) in the family Chrysomelidae within the order Coleoptera. This tool uses “hispines” in the traditional sense of the genera and species in the former subfamily Hispinae to enable quick recognition. The biology and host plants of most hispines are unknown. However, a number of hispines are major pests of economic importance. This tool contains an interactive key, fact sheets, an image gallery, and an illustrated guide to hispine morphology. Please see the How to use the key page for detailed instructions on using it. The image gallery offers you the opportunity to see a comparison of all hispine genera in the tool. The Hispine morphology page provides definitions and illustrations of terms used in the key.