British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera
British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera |
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~Telephoridae.
General appearance. 5–9 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 1.1–4.5. Elytral length/pronotal length 2.4–11.73. 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; not necked; somewhat waisted; usually red (or reddish yellow) and black; exhibiting bright ‘warning colours’. Upper surfaces of body glabrous or subglabrous, or non-glabrous; not bristly; with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Inclination of the head slight to very strong. Eyes strongly protuberant; without bristles. Antennae short to longer than the insect's head to tail length; 9–11 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae filiform (flattened), or clubbed, or serrate, or pectinate. Antennal clubs 2 segmented. Antennal insertions visible from above; not in fossae.
Prothorax shorter than wide to about as long as wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.43–0.76. Prothorax at its widest markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen, or not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. The tarsi without bilobed segments; without ‘hidden’ segments. Mid-leg tarsi 3-segmented (or fewer), or 5-segmented; pentamerous, or with fewer than three segments. Claws of the mid-leg tarsi not appendaged (but sometimes with basal setae). Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 3-segmented (or fewer), or 5-segmented. Hind tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 3-segmented (or fewer), or 5-segmented. Tarsal claws simple, or one-toothed or bifid; with an empodium between them (this with no more than two setae), or without an associated empodium. Elytra present (but dehicent). Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 0.9–3.75. Elytra meeting along the length of the mid-line, or not meeting along the full length of the mid-line (usually widened apically); covering most of the abdomen; exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite, or at least three complete abdominal tergites; soft; ribbed (4-ribbed). Scutellary striole absent. Wings well developed, or absent or much reduced.
Visible abdominal sternites 7–8, or 10; immovably joined 0. Abdominal segment 8 with apparently functional spiracles.
Habitat, ecology. Predacious; in living vegetation (commonly on flowers of Umbelliferae), or under bark (or in the soil).
General comments. These beetles are very distasteful to predators, and serve as models for numerous insect mimics.
Larvae. Larvae predacious; in rotting wood and in or under bark.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Superfamily Cantharoidea.
British representation. Genera 3; 4 species. E.g., Dictyopterus aurora; Platycis minutus (Black-neck Lycus).
Illustrations. • Platycis minutus (Black-necked Lycus: B. Ent. 263). • Platycis minutus (details, B. Ent. 263). • Platycis minutus: B. Ent. 263, legend+text. • Dictyoptera aurora (Rye & Fowler IX2).
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’.
