Bog soft beetle
| Bog soft beetle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hairy bog soft beetle ( Dascillus cervinus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dascillidae | ||||||||||||
| Guérin-Méneville , 1843 |
The bog soft beetles or meadow beetles (Dascillidae) are a family of beetles that occur worldwide.
description
The beetles reach a body length of 4.5 to 25 millimeters. They have an elliptical, long body that is two to four times longer than it is wide. The wings are two to eight times longer than the pronotum . Their body color is usually gray, brown or orange-brownish. The animals have very dense, velvety hairs that mostly cover the basic color. Their eleven-segment, thread-shaped or more or less strongly combed antennae are only about half as long as the body length. Some types, such as B. Escalerina microcephala , have strongly developed mandibles . The legs have five tarsal links , from which small lobes protrude on both sides on the second to fourth link. Their wings are well developed. The abdomen ( abdomen ) has eight segments.
Way of life
The adults are often found sitting on flowers. The larvae look similar to grubs and live in the ground, feeding on roots. At least one species of the subfamily Karumiinae lives dependent on termites , but it is assumed that all members of this family have such a way of life.
Systematics (Europe)
Up to now about 50 species are known, of which only three occur in Europe . Its main area of distribution is Asia .
- Hairy bog soft beetle ( Dascillus cervinus ) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Dascillus elongatus Falderman, 1836
- Dascillus sicanus Fairmaire, 1861
credentials
- ↑ Dascillidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed February 8, 2007 .
literature
- Edmund Reitter : Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. Volume 3 p. 290, KG Lutz, Stuttgart 1911
- Edmund Reitter: Fauna Germanica - The beetles of the German Empire. 5 volumes, Stuttgart KG Lutz 1908–1916, digital library volume 134, Directmedia Publishing GmbH, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89853-534-7
