Rodent beetles

Rodent beetles
Rodent beetles
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta) Order : Beetle (Coleoptera) Subordination : Polyphaga Partial order : Bostrichiformia Superfamily : Bostrichoidea Family : Rodent beetles
Scientific name
Ptinidae
Latreille , 1802

Light-colored rodent beetle ( Hedobia imperialis )

The rodent beetles (Ptinidae), also known as throbbing or knocking beetles , are a family of beetles . The family used to have a scientific name ( Anobiidae , Fleming, 1821). Ptinidae has priority over this one, however, as this name was used by Pierre André Latreille as early as 1802 to describe the family.

Features and way of life

The rodent beetles are 1.5 to nine millimeters in size, often brown-red or brown to black in color. The head and pronotum may occasionally be colored differently than the elytra. A cylindrical body is characteristic of the rodent beetle, with the head mostly hidden under a pronotum. A number of the species live in rotten wood, but especially the common woodworm ( Anobium punctatum ) is also known as a wood pest in intact, dry wood. Other species also live in hard tree fungi or in coniferous cones, and still others can be found in dung, remains of mushrooms or in food ( bread beetle , Stegobium paniceum ).

Systematics

To date, over 1,500 species have been described worldwide, of which around 70 species live in Central Europe and around 30 species in the British Isles. In Europe there are currently around 462 species and subspecies in ten subfamilies and 65 genera .

The following overview lists some species of rodent beetles, but it is not complete:

• Subfamily Anobiinae
  • Bread beetle ( Stegobium paniceum )
  • Common rodent beetle ( Anobium punctatum ), better known as "woodworm"
  • Hadrobregmus denticollis
  • Defiant head ( Hadrobregmus pertinax )

• Subfamily Dorcatominae
  • Matt black bovistnage beetle ( Caenocara bovistae )
  • Schillerporling poch beetle ( Dorcatoma substriata )
• Subfamily Dryophilinae
  • Black dwarf beetle ( Dryophilus pusillus )
  • Variable rodent beetle ( Grynobius planus )
• Subfamily Ernobiinae
  • Soft rodent beetle ( Ernobius mollis )
  • Ochina ptinoides
  • Xestobium plumbeum
  • Pied rodent beetle or colorful poch beetle ( Xestobium rufovillosum )
• Subfamily Eucradinae
  • Yellow-brown rodent beetle ( Hedobia pubescens )
  • Light-colored rodent beetle ( Hedobia imperialis )
• Subfamily Gibbiinae
  • Humpback beetle ( Gibbium psylloides )
• Subfamily Mesocoleopodinae
  • Mesocoelopus niger
• Subfamily Ptilininae
  • Combed rodent beetle ( Ptilinus pectinicornis )
• Subfamily thief beetles (Ptininae)
  • Herb thief ( Ptinus fur )
  • Red-legged thief beetle ( Ptinus rufipes )
  • Six-point thief beetle ( Ptinus sexpunctatus )
  • Brass beetle ( Niptus hololeucus )
• Subfamily Xyletininae
  • Black sawhorn beetle ( Xyletinus ater )
  • Tobacco beetle ( Lasioderma serricone )

Fossil evidence

Members of this beetle family are not uncommon in Baltic amber . Their relative frequency and their occurrence in the context of the find with other, equally xylophagous insects have provided important information about the communities in the Eocene “amber forest”.

credentials

1. ^ Richard AB Leschen, Rolf G. Beutel, John F. Lawrence: Handbuch der Zoologie - Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 2: Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim) . de Gruyter, 2010, ISBN 978-3-11-019075-5 (English).
2. ↑ Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
3. ↑ Anobiidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed May 11, 2007 . 
4. ↑ Wilfried Wichard, Wolfgang Weitschat: Atlas of plants and animals in the Baltic amber. Pfeil-Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-931516-45-8 .
5. ↑ Müller: Textbook of Palaeozoology. Volume II, part 3, Jena 1978.

Web links

Commons : Rodent beetles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Larval feces analysis