British insects: the families of Coleoptera
British insects: the families of Coleoptera |
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Including Schizopodidae.
Jewel Beetles.
General appearance. 2.3–12 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 1.25–5.15. Elytral length/pronotal length 2–6.83. Base of prothorax not or scarcely narrower than the combined elytral bases, or distinctly 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. Body not noticeably widest either behind the thorax, or at the rear. Beetles elongate-oval, or elongate; not necked; conspicuously waisted; brightly metallic; exhibiting bright ‘warning colours’, or without ‘warning colouration’. Upper surfaces of body glabrous or subglabrous, or non-glabrous; exhibiting stiff, erect, dark bristles, or not bristly; exhibiting scales or scale-like setae, or with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Inclination of the head slight to very strong. Eyes strongly protuberant, or not strongly protuberant; without bristles; finely facetted. Antennae very short to about half the insect's head to tail length; (10–)11(–12) segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae filiform (sometimes, more or less), or clubbed (occasionally, weakly), or serrate (usually). Antennal insertions visible from above, or hidden from above; ‘countersunk’ within saucer-like fossae, or not in fossae. Mandibular prosthecae absent. Prothorax shorter than wide to about as long as wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.2–0.95. Prothorax at its widest not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. The scutellum elevated, or not elevated. Metaventrite with a transverse groove. Hind coxae posteriorly shaped to receive the retracted femur (with a backwardly facing concavity). Tarsal segmentation formula 5, 5, 5. The tarsi exhibiting bilobed segments; without ‘hidden’ segments. Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 5-segmented. Mid-leg tarsi 5-segmented; pentamerous. The claws of the mid-leg tarsi not appendaged. The claws of the mid-leg tarsi simple, or one-toothed or bifid; without an associated empodium. Hind tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 5-segmented. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1–3.2. Elytra exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite, or at least three complete abdominal tergites; hard; striate. Scutellary striole present, or absent. Wings well developed. Exposed abdominal sternites 4–7; all articulated and movable, or comprising both fused and movable components; immovably joined when present 2. Abdominal segment 8 with apparently functional spiracles.
Adult habitat, ecology. Not predacious; phytophagous; in living vegetation (especially on nectiferous flowers, and on tree trunks).
Larvae. Larvae not predacious; phytophagous (often feeding in the wood or roots of trees, or in stems of herbaceous plants); on living vegetation, or in decaying plant material, or in rotting wood. Larvae soft-bodied and legless, the head small and retracted without ocelli, the labrum free, the antennae very short, the prothorax markedly expanded and flattened, and the hind body relatively slender.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Infraorder Elateriformia; Superfamily Buprestoidea.
Worldwide and British representation. About 15000 species worldwide; genera about 450. 12 species in Britain; genera in Britain 5; Agrilus, Anthaxia, Aphanisticus, Melanophila, Trachys. E.g., Agrilus sinuatus (Gold-and-purple Agrilus); Aphanisticus pusillus (Smallest Buprestid); Anthaxia nitidula (Glittering Buprestid).
General comments. Adult metaventrite (= metasternum) with a transverse groove, by contrast with Chrysomelidae, and the eyes very large and higher than wide, by contrast with Drilidae..
Illustrations. • Agrilus sinuatus (Gold-and-purple Agrilus: B. Ent. 067). • Agrilus sinuatus (B. Ent. 67. legend+text). • Agrilus sinuatus (B. Ent. 67. text cont.). • Aphanisticus pusillus (Smallest Buprestid: B. Ent. 262). • Aphanisticus pusillus: B. Ent. 262, legend+text. • Aphanisticus pusillus: B. Ent. 262, text cont.. • Anthaxia nitidula (Glittering Buprestis: B. Ent. 031). • Anthaxia nitidula (details, B. Ent. 031). • Anthaxia nitidula: B. Ent. 031, legend+text. • Anthaxia nitidula: B. Ent. 031, text cont.. • Trachys minuta: B. Ent. 686. • Trachys minuta: B. Ent. 686, legend+text. • Trachys minuta: B. Ent. 686, text cont.. • Agrilus (3 spp.), Anthaxia, Aphanisticus, Trachys (3 spp., with Eucnemidae, Throscidae, etc.): Fowler 4, 104 (1890). • Fowler 4, 104 (1890): original legend. • Aphanisticus emerginatus and Melanophila acuminata, with unrelated taxa: Fowler Suppl. 15, 1913. • Fowler Suppl. 15, 1913: original legend. • Trachys minuta (Janson186).
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: 2nd January 2012. http://delta-intkey.com’.
