British insects: the families of Coleoptera
British insects: the families of Coleoptera |
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Including Lophocateridae, Ostomatidae, Ostomidae, Temnochilidae, Temnoscheilidae.
Bark-gnawing beetles.
General appearance. 5–11 mm long. Body length/maximum body width 1.25–7.65. Elytral length/pronotal length 1.75–4.58. 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, or slender; dorsally flattened; not necked; conspicuously waisted. 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 prognathous. Inclination of the head slight. Eyes strongly protuberant, or not strongly protuberant; bristly, or without bristles. Antennae very short to short; 10 segmented. Antennal scape not swollen. Antennae clubbed. Antennal clubs 1 segmented, or 3 segmented. Antennal insertions visible from above, or hidden from above; not in fossae. Mandibular prosthecae well developed to absent. Prothorax shorter than wide. Pronotal length/maximum pronotal width 0.3–1.52. Prothorax at its widest markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen to not markedly narrower than the adjoining part of the abdomen; having the front corners produced, or with serrated sides, or with neither produced front corners nor serrated sides. Prothorax without notopleural sutures. Metaventrite with a transverse groove, or without a transverse groove. Hind coxae not shaped posteriorly to receive the femur. Tarsal segmentation formula 5, 5, 4. The tarsi without bilobed segments; with a tiny basal segment that is hard to detect. Front tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented, or 5-segmented (actually 5 segmented, with a tiny basal segment). Mid-leg tarsi 4-segmented (ostensibly), or 5-segmented (actually 5). The claws of the mid-leg tarsi not appendaged. The claws of the mid-leg tarsi simple, or one-toothed or bifid; with an empodium between them (this bisetose). Hind tarsi with as many segments as the mid-tarsi; 4-segmented, or 5-segmented. Elytral length/maximum width across the elytra 0.82–3.3. Elytra meeting along the length of the mid-line; covering most to all of the abdomen; exposing no more than part of the terminal tergite, or at least three complete abdominal tergites; truncate, or not truncate. Scutellary striole absent. Wings well developed, or absent or much reduced. Exposed abdominal sternites 5–6; all articulated and movable, or comprising both fused and movable components; immovably joined when present, 2, or 4–6. Abdominal segment 8 apparently without functional spiracles.
Adult habitat, ecology. Predacious, or not predacious; in rotting wood and in dried plant material (stored cereals), or associated with fungi.
Larvae. Larvae predacious; in rotting wood, in dried plant material, in or under bark, and in fungi (often in tunnels of wood boring insects, and in bracket fungi). The larvae, elongate, whitish, subcylindrical or tapered towards the head, head exserted, with several pairs of ocelli, the pronotum and segment 9 sclerotized.
Classification. Suborder Polyphaga; Infraorder Cucujiformia; Superfamily Cleroidea.
Worldwide and British representation. About 600 species worldwide. 2 species in Britain; genera in Britain 2; Nemozoma, Tenebroides. E.g., Nemozoma elongatum (Elongated Nemosoma); Tenebroides mauritanicus.
General comments. Beetles without erect bristles, though sometimes clothed with scales; the head cleft in front and the eyes borne well in front of the thorax..
Illustrations. • Nemozoma elongatum (Elongated Nemosoma: B. Ent. 327). • Nemozoma elongatum (details, B. Ent. 327). • Nemozoma elongatum: B. Ent. 327, legend+text. • Nemozoma elongatum: B. Ent. 327, text cont.. • Tenebroides mauritanicus: B. Ent. 734. • Tenebroides mauritanicus: B. Ent. 734, legend+text. • Tenebroides mauritanicus: B. Ent. 734, text cont.. • Tenebroides mauritanicus (Janson 226). • Nemozoma elongatum and Tenebroides mauritanicus (with Rhizophagidae, Merophysiidae, etc.): Fowler 3, 91 (1889). • Fowler 3, 91 (1889): 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: 1st April 2012. http://delta-intkey.com’.
