British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera
British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera |
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~Zopheridae.
General appearance. 1.3–6 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 1.5–4.5. Elytral length/pronotal length 1.5–3.5. 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. Beetles elongate-oval to elongate; dorsally flattened, or dorsally strongly convex to cylindric; not necked; conspicuously waisted; unpatterned, yellow, brown, or black. 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. Beetles without a rostrum. Eyes strongly protuberant, or not strongly protuberant; bristly, or without bristles. Antennae very short to short; (10–)11 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae clubbed. Antennal clubs 2 segmented, or 3 segmented (oval or spherical). Antennal insertions hidden from above; not hidden by lateral extensions of the frons (being under the frontal margin). Mandibular prosthecae well developed.
Prothorax longer than wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.4–1.75. Prothorax at its widest markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen, or not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen; having the front corners produced, or with serrated sides (at least sometimes), or with neither produced front corners nor serrated sides (?). Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. Fore coxal cavites open behind. The tarsi without bilobed segments; without ‘hidden’ segments. Mid-leg tarsi 3-segmented, or 4-segmented; tetramerous, or trimerous. Claws of the mid-leg tarsi not appendaged. Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 3-segmented, or 4-segmented. Hind tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 3-segmented, or 4-segmented. Tarsal claws simple. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1–3.2. Elytra covering most of the abdomen; exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite; dull; rough, or tuberculate, or ribbed. Scutellary striole present, or absent. Wings well developed, or absent or much reduced.
Visible abdominal sternites 5; immovably joined 0, or 3–6. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Habitat, ecology. Land-dwellers; predacious (and some ectoparasitic on larvae or pupae of other beetles), or not predacious (mostly); mostly mycetophagous; in decaying plant material, in rotting wood, under bark, and associated with fungi.
General comments. Dull beetles, densely punctured andcovered with tiny flattened hairs.
Larvae. Larvae predacious, or not predacious (mostly); mostly mycetophagous; in decaying plant material, in rotting wood, in or under bark, and in fungi.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Superfamily Cucujoidea.
British representation. Genera 13; 17 species. E.g., Bitoma crenata (Saddle-back Bitoma); Cicones variegatus (Hornbeam Cicones); Ortrhocerus clavicornis (Hairy-horned Beetle).
Illustrations. • Bitoma crenata (Saddle-backed Bitoma: B. Ent. 283). • Bitoma crenata (details, B. Ent. 283). • Bitoma crenata: B. Ent. 283, legend+text. • Cicones variegata Curtis (Hornbeam Cicones: B. Ent. 149). • Cicones variegata: original genus and species descriptions (B. Ent. 149, legend+text). • Cicones variegata: B. Ent. 149, text cont.). • Orthocerus clavicornis (Hairy-horned beetle: B. Ent. 314). • Orthocerus clavicornis (details, B. Ent. 314). • Orthocerus clavicornis: B. Ent. 314, legend+text.
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: 18th September 2008. http://delta-intkey.com’.
