British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera
British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera |
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General appearance. 2–9 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 2.3–4.7. Elytral length/pronotal length 2.2–3.75. 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. Beetles elongate; dorsally strongly convex (characteristically humped forward, and smoothly tapered to the uncovered tip of the abdomen); conspicuously necked; not waisted to somewhat waisted. Upper surfaces of body non-glabrous; not bristly; exhibiting scales or scale-like setae, or with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Beetles not prognathous. Eyes not strongly protuberant; without bristles; finely facetted. Antennae short; 11 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae filiform to gradually expanding acropetally, or clubbed. Antennal clubs 7 segmented (elongate, serrate). Antennal insertions hidden from above.
Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.45–1.1. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. The tarsi without bilobed segments; without ‘hidden’ segments. Mid-leg tarsi 5-segmented; pentamerous. Claws of the mid-leg tarsi with an appendage, or not appendaged; the appendages when present, not or only lightly sclerotized. Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 5-segmented. Hind tarsi with one segment fewer than the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented. Tarsal claws serrate, denticulate or pectinate (serrate or pectinate beneath, and each with a sclerotized process). Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1.55–2.53. Elytra meeting along the length of the mid-line; covering most of the abdomen; exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite (the exposed 1–2 tergites narrow-tapered to the exposed, long-pointed abdominal tip). Scutellary striole absent. Elytra non-glabrous. Wings well developed.
Visible abdominal sternites 5; immovably joined 0. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Habitat, ecology. Predacious (?), or not predacious; in living vegetation (and on tree trunks).
Larvae. Larvae predacious (or parasitic), or not predacious; on living vegetation (leaf or stem miners), or in rotting wood.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Superfamily Cucujoidea.
British representation. Genera 3; 10 species. E.g., Mordellistena abdominalis (Red-bodied Mordella).
Illustrations. • Mordellistena abdominalis (Red-bodied Mordella: B. Ent. 483). • Mordellistena abdominalis (details, B. Ent. 483). • Mordellistena abdominalis: B. Ent. 483, 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: 9th June 2008. http://delta-intkey.com’.
