Colonist beetle

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Colonist beetle
Colon claviger

Colon claviger

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination : Polyphaga
Superfamily : Staphylinoidea
Family : Leiodidae
Subfamily : Colonist beetle
Scientific name
Coloninae
Autumn , 1797

The colonist beetles (Coloninae) are a subfamily of the beetles from the family Leiodidae . It consists of the genera Colon , which is represented worldwide with more than 150 species, and Colonellus .

features

The colonist beetles are small, elongated to oval beetles. They have eleven-segment antennae with a four -segment , thickened antenna lobe. In some species the hind legs are reinforced with teeth or thorns.

distribution

The colonist beetles are common worldwide. The subfamily is known from the tropics of Africa and Asia, only one species has so far been found in the tropical latitudes of the New World . Only four species occur in Chile and Argentina , one was discovered in Central America . There are around 40 species in the USA and Canada, as many in Europe. Some of these species are distributed across the Holarctic . There are also representatives of the genus Colon in Australia and New Zealand . In Asia the distribution area extends to Taiwan , Korea , Japan and the Ryūkyū Islands .

Way of life

The German name colonist beetle is associated with the fact that the beetles can be found in considerable numbers at certain times in small forest clearings and in places overgrown with grass and moss. They only show up in the twilight, before the dew falls, above ground. During the day they retreat to the upper soil layers in humus-rich soil or in tree stumps and under the bark. They feed on fungal mycelia on the grass roots or on putrefactive substances. Little is known about the way of life of the individual species, the brood biology and larval development.

Systematics and taxonomy

Because of the large number of species, the genus Colon is divided into nine subgenera. The genus Colonellus has two sub-genera.

European subgenera and species of the genus Colon

Subgenus Colon (Colon)

Subgenus Colon (Eurycolon)

Subgenus Colon (Myloechus)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stewart B. Peck: A new species of Colon Herbst from Honduras (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Coloninae). The Coleopterist's Bulletin, 53, 2, pp. 101-103, 1999
  2. ↑ Hideto Hoshina: Discovery of the Subfamily Coloninae (Coleoptera, Leiodidae) from the Ryukyus, Japan, with Description of a New Species. Elytra, 31,1, pp. 209-213, 2003

literature

  • AF Newton: Phylogenetic problems, current classification and generic catalog of world Leiodidae (including Cholevidae). Phylogeny and Evolution of Subterranean and Endogean Cholevidae (= Leiodidae Cholevinae). Proceedings of XX International Congress of Entomology Firenze, 1996. Bollettino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino 1998, pp. 41-177, 1998
  • Erwin Stresemann and Bernhard Klausnitzer : Stresemann - excursion fauna of Germany, volume 2: Invertebrates: insects. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, 11th edition, 2011, p. 379, ISBN 3-8274-2451-8

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