Lepiceridae
| Lepiceridae | ||||||||||||
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Lepicerus bufo , specimen |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lepiceridae | ||||||||||||
| Hinton , 1936 |
Lepiceridae is a family of beetles within the suborder Myxophaga . The family consists of only three recent species, which are assigned to the genus Lepicerus , a fourth species, Haplochelus georissoides , which was originally assigned to a separate family Haplochelidae, is known to be fossilized.
features
The beetles have a body length of 1.5 to 2 millimeters and are all very similar in appearance. Their short and broad body has more or less parallel sides and is heavily sclerotized . The upper wings (elytres) are strongly structured and grooved. Often the body is covered with sand. The head is quite large in relation to the body. The very short antennae have four to seven segments, the last being conical and cut off at the tip. The mouthparts are almost completely covered by the movable labrum , the lateral parts of the frontal plate ( clypeus ) and the large submental plate. The mandibles are not visible because they are entirely within the pre-oral chamber. The compound eyes are very large and stand out clearly. The pronotum is almost twice as wide as it is long. It is sharp-edged at the front, slightly narrower at the rear than at the front and has deep indentations on the sides. The front edge is widened in the middle and thus covers the rear, middle part of the head capsule. The epipleuron of the wing is dorsoventral . The abdomen has six visible sternites (II to VII). The second sternite has a wide central part between the hips ( coxes ) of the rear legs. The third sternite is wider than the rest and has an oblique furrow. The seventh sternite has a clear central cusp. The wing panels are significantly wider than the pronotum and have easily recognizable humeral angles. In addition to the numerous sclerotized tubercles, each wing has three longitudinal grooves. The rails ( tibia ) are slender and have short apical spurs. The tarsi consist of only one limb. They each have a short claw.
Occurrence and way of life
All species are neotropically distributed and occur from Mexico to Venezuela and Ecuador. The beetles were found at altitudes between 128 and 1427 meters. The fossil species Haplochelus georissoides is known from Burmese amber. Unlike most of the other Myxophaga species, which have a more hygrophilous way of life, the Lepiceridae species can be found from moist river banks ( Lepicerus inaequalis ) to dry cypress forests ( Lepicerus bufo ) to dry banana plantations ( Lepicerus pichilingue ). Most of the finds, however, have been documented from humid habitats. There they are found on thread algae, aquatic plants and grasses, such as the rough horn leaf ( Ceratophyllum demersum ). They are associated with semi-aquatic beetles such as Georissus minor , Paracymus confusus and Anacaena debilis , or short-winged beetles from the genera Homaeotersus , Osorius , Diochus , Neobisnius , Xantholinus , Stenus and Coproporus .
Only a few adults have been found so far . The larvae of all species are so far unknown, but it is assumed that a previously undescribed larva that has been found can be assigned to the family.
Taxonomy and systematics
The family was described by Sharp in 1882 based on the genus Cyathocerus with the name Cyathoceridae, who did not know that Motschulsky described the group under the name Lepicerus as early as 1855 . The genus was assigned to the bark beetles (Scolytidae) and Georyssidae in the course of research history . It is probably in a sister relationship with the Hydroscaphidae and Torridincolidae . The following types are known so far:
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Lepiceridae. Tree of Life webproject, accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ↑ a b c d Rolf G. Beutel, Richard AB Leschen: Handbuch der Zoologie - Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 1: Morphology and Systematics (Archostemata, Adephaga, Myxophaga, Polyphaga partim) . 1st edition. de Gruyter , 2005, ISBN 3-11-017130-9 , p. 45 (English).
- ↑ William D. Shepard, Rob E. Roughley, Wendy Porras: The natural history of Lepicerus inaequalis Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Myxophaga: Lepiceridae) in Costa Rica, and additional morphological descriptions . Folia Entomologica Mexicana, Noviembre, vol. 44, numero suplemento 1, Sociedad Mexicana de Entomologica, AC, Xalapa, Mexico, 2005, pp. 97-105. online ( PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
literature
- Rolf G. Beutel, Richard AB Leschen: Handbuch der Zoologie - Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 1: Morphology and Systematics (Archostemata, Adephaga, Myxophaga, Polyphaga partim) . 1st edition. de Gruyter , 2005, ISBN 3-11-017130-9 (English).