British insects: the families of Coleoptera
British insects: the families of Coleoptera | |
Including Mycteridae.
General appearance. 9–15 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 2.15–3.4. Elytral length/pronotal length 1.9–5.5. 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. Body noticeably widest at the rear. Beetles elongate; dorsally flattened; not necked; conspicuously waisted; elytra greenish to brownish, iridescent. Upper surfaces of body glabrous or subglabrous, or non-glabrous; not bristly; with neither scales nor scale-like setae.
Detailed morphology. Beetles prognathous. Inclination of the head slight. Eyes strongly protuberant; without bristles. Antennae short to long, but not exceeding the insect’s head to tail length; 11 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae filiform. Antennal insertions hidden from above; not hidden by lateral extensions of the frons (under a shelf-like extension of the frons in front of eyes). Prothorax shorter than wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.5–1.1. Prothorax at its widest not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite without a transverse groove. Fore coxal cavites closed behind. Hind coxae not shaped posteriorly to receive the femur. Tarsal segmentation formula 5, 5, 4. The tarsi without 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. Hind tarsi with one segment fewer than the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 1.7–2.45. Elytra exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite; iridescent. Scutellary striole absent. Wings well developed, or absent or much reduced (?). Exposed abdominal sternites 5; all articulated and movable, or comprising both fused and movable components; immovably joined when present, 2. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Adult habitat, ecology. Predacious, or not predacious (?).
Larvae. Larvae predacious, or not predacious (?).
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Infraorder Cucujiformia; Superfamily Tenebrionoidea.
Worldwide and British representation. About 50 species worldwide. 2 species in Britain (M. curculionoides, P. depressus); genera in Britain 2; Mycterus, Pytho.
General comments. Elongate and parallel-sided or rather flattened, prognathous beetles.
Illustrations. • Pytho depressus, with Melandryidae and Salpingidae: Fowler 5, 147 (1891). • Fowler 5, 147 (1891): original legend.. • Mycterus curculioides ~ Mycteridae (as curculionoides), with Oedemiridae, Pyrochroidae, Scraptiidae, Mordellidae: Fowler 5, 148 (1891). • Fowler 5, 148 (1891): original legend..
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’.
