British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera
British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera |
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Diphyllidae.
General appearance. 2.7–3.5 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 1.5–2.9. Elytral length/pronotal length 2.6–3.2. Base of prothorax not or scarcely narrower than the combined elytral bases. Greatest prothoracic width not narrower or only slightly narrower than the greatest elytral width, or distinctly narrower than greatest elytral width. Beetles elongate-oval to elongate; dorsally flattened; not necked; not waisted to somewhat waisted; decidedly short-legged. Upper surfaces of body non-glabrous; exhibiting stiff, erect, dark bristles, or not bristly; with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Beetles not prognathous. Eyes strongly protuberant; bristly; coarsely facetted. Antennae short; 11 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae clubbed. Antennal clubs flattened, 2 segmented (cf. Joy), or 3 segmented (cf. Unwin). Antennal insertions hidden from above.
Prothorax shorter than wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.45–0.72. Prothorax at its widest not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. Hind coxae moveable. The tarsi without bilobed segments (in British species, but the third segment with a membranous lobe beneath); in British species without ‘hidden’ segments. Mid-leg tarsi 5-segmented; pentamerous. Claws of the mid-leg tarsi not appendaged. Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 5-segmented. Hind tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented, or 5-segmented. Tarsal claws simple. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1.2–2.2. Elytra covering most of the abdomen; exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite; coarsely striate. Scutellary striole present, or absent. Elytra non-glabrous; with epipleura. Elytral epipleura reaching to the tips of the elytra. Wings well developed.
Visible abdominal sternites 5; immovably joined 0. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Habitat, ecology. Predacious, or not predacious (?); under bark and associated with fungi.
General comments. Thorax with a ridge, surmounted by a row of bent bristles, down each side; scutellum transverse; tarsi sometimes 4 segmented in non-British species.
Larvae. Larvae predacious, or not predacious (?); in or under bark and in fungi.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Superfamily Cucujoidea.
British representation. Genera 2; 2 species.
Illustrations. • Biphyllus (from Joy).
To view the illustrations with detailed captions, go to the interactive key. This also offers full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Coleoptera. Version: 9th June 2008. http://delta-intkey.com’.
