Ball beetle

This article describes the beetle family Sphaeriusidae known as the ball beetle. For the thief beetle species Gibbium psylloides, known under the same name as “pest”, see humpback beetle

Ball beetle
Shore ball beetle ( Sphaerius acaroides )
Systematics
Trunk : Arthropod (arthropoda) Superclass : Six-footed (Hexapoda) Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Beetle (Coleoptera) Subordination : Myxophaga Family : Ball beetle
Scientific name
Sphaeriusidae
Erichson , 1845

The ball beetles (Sphaeriusidae, formerly : Microsporidae) represent a family of beetles . Of these, 23 species in just one genus, Sphaerius or Microsporus , are known from the northern hemisphere, Madagascar and Australia , three of which are the shore - Ball beetle ( Sphaerius acaroides ), S. hispanicus and S. spississimus also occur in Europe . The humpback beetle ( Gibbium psylloides ) and the brass beetle ( Niptus hololeucus ) are often referred to as ball beetles in the pest control literature . However, these belong to the family of thief beetles (Ptinidae). Name similarity shows z. B. also the southern ivy ball beetle ( Clithostethus arcuatus ) from the ladybird family (Coccinellidae).

features

The beetles are only 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters long and have a very spherical-oval body. They are glossy black or dark brown in color. Their antennae are short and eleven-limbed, their end is club-shaped thickened. The large labrum covers the mandibles . The membranous hind wings are, depending on the species, well developed to reduced and fringed at the end.

The larvae are about two millimeters long. The eight tracheas of the abdominal segments form characteristic protuberances.

Way of life

Adults and larvae live in the mud and gravel on the banks of streams and rivers. They feed on algae , and probably also on dead plant material. The adults carry a supply of air under the wings . The females only lay one large egg at a time.

species

• Shore ball beetle ( Sphaerius acaroides )
• Sphaerius africanus
• Sphaerius alticola
• Sphaerius coenensis
• Sphaerius coomani
• Sphaerius cribratus
• Sphaerius favosus
• Sphaerius gustavlohsei
• Sphaerius hispanicus
• Sphaerius humicola
• Sphaerius laeviventris
• Sphaerius madecassus
• Sphaerius politus
• Sphaerius obsoletus
• Sphaerius ovensensis
• Sphaerius papulosus
• Sphaerius perlaevis
• Sphaerius scutellaris
• Sphaerius silvicola
• Sphaerius spississimus
• Sphaerius tesselatus
• Sphaerius texanus
• Sphaerius tropicus

credentials

1. ↑ Hydroscaphidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed May 17, 2007 . 

Web links

• British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera (English)
• Insectos de Argentina y el Mundo (Spanish)

literature

• AG Duff: Microsporus acaroides Waltl. (Col .: Microsporidae). In: Dorset. Entomol. Mon. Mag. 128 (1540-1543): 214, 1992