Dwarf beetle
| Dwarf beetle | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ptiliidae | ||||||||||||
| Erichson , 1845 / Motschulsky , 1845 |
The dwarf beetles or feathered beetles (Ptiliidae) represent a family of beetles that are described worldwide with 500 species, of which 18 genera with 87 species occur in Central Europe .
description
The beetles are only 0.25 to 1.3 millimeters long, making them the smallest of all. They are either light brown, dark brown or black and have a light underside, legs and antennae . Their body is either spherical, oval or elongated like a grain of rice . The wing covers of some species do not cover the entire abdomen, but leave a small tip free. The most interesting feature of this family are the narrow, tongue-shaped hind wings, which have long bristles on the edges to increase surface area. The beetles in this family are capable of flying.
The beetles and larvae live in rotten wood and decaying plant parts or in the leaves. They are mycetophagus , which means that they feed on spores , mainly molds , but also higher fungi .
Systematics
In Europe dwarf beetles are represented with three subfamilies, 21 genera and over 130 species. The following list gives an overview of the genera represented in Europe and some selected species:
Subfamily Acrotrichinae
- Acrotrichis
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Baeocrara
- Two-colored dwarf beetle ( Baeocrara variolosa ) ( Mulsant & Rey , 1873)
- Nephanes
- Smicrus
Subfamily Nanosellinae
Subfamily Ptiliinae
- Actidium
- Actinopteryx
- Astatopteryx
- Bambara
- Euryptilium
- Micridium
- Microptilium
- Millidium
- Nelloptodes
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Nossidium
- Oval dwarf beetle ( Nossidium pilosellum ) (Marsham, 1802)
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Oligella
- Light brown dwarf beetle ( Oligella foveolata ) (Allibert, 1844)
- Ptenidium
- Pteryx
- Ptiliola
- Ptiliolum
- Ptilium
- Ptinella
Fossil evidence
The species Micridium groehni, Microptilium geistausti and Ptinella oligocenica described from the Eocene Baltic amber are probably the oldest fossil evidence of this beetle family to date.
swell
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. An identification book for biologists and nature lovers. Parey, Berlin et al. 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ptiliidae. Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed on July 25, 2007 .
- ^ Sven Gisle Larsson: Baltic Amber. A Palaeobiological Study (= Entomonograph. Vol. 1). Scandinavian Science Press, Klampenborg 1978, ISBN 87-87491-16-8 .
- ↑ Carsten Gröhn: inclusions in Baltic amber . Wachholtz Verlag, Kiel 2015, ISBN 978-3-529-05457-0 .
