British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera
British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera |
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General appearance. 5–17 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 2.4–4.9. Elytral length/pronotal length 3.1–7.2. Base of prothorax 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 noticeably widest immediately behind the thorax. Beetles elongate; not necked; somewhat waisted to conspicuously waisted; conspicuously long-legged; usually pale yellowish brown, sometimes with darker pattern or spots. Upper surfaces of body non-glabrous; not bristly; with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Beetles prognathous. Eyes strongly protuberant; without bristles. Antennae short to long, but not exceeding the insect’s head to tail length; 11(–12) segmented (long). Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae filiform. Antennal insertions visible from above, or hidden from above.
Prothorax longer than wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.72–2.2. Prothorax at its widest markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. Fore coxal cavites closed behind. The tarsi exhibiting bilobed segments (penultimate segments bilobed and spongy beneath); without ‘hidden’ segments (basal segment long). 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 one segment fewer than the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented. Tarsal claws simple, or one-toothed or bifid. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1.85–4.3. Elytra individually distinctly tapered to their apices; not meeting along the full length of the mid-line; covering most of the abdomen to short, exposing several terminal abdominal tergites, or greatly reduced; exposing at least one but fewer than three complete abdominal tergites (and proximally rounded); not truncate; rather soft; always ribbed. Scutellary striole absent. Elytra non-glabrous (finely and uniformly pubescent). Wings well developed, or absent or much reduced.
Visible abdominal sternites 5–6; immovably joined 2. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Habitat, ecology. Not predacious; phytophagous (e.g., pollen feeders); in living vegetation, or under bark.
General comments. Often coastal.
Larvae. Larvae not predacious; consuming rotting wood; in rotting wood (especially driftwood and marine timbers).
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Superfamily Cucujoidea.
British representation. Genera 5; 8 species. E.g., Ischnomera sanguinicollis (Red-and-Green Oedemera).
Illustrations. • Ischnomera sanguinicollis (Red-and-green Oedemera: B. Ent. 390). • Ischnomera sanguinicollis (details, B. Ent. 390). • Ischnomera sanguinicollis (B. Ent. 390: legend+text). • Ischnomera sanguinicollis (B. Ent. 390: text, cont.).
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’.
