Beetle
| Beetle | ||||||||||||
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Scarlet net beetle ( Dictyoptera aurora ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lycidae | ||||||||||||
| Laporte , 1836 |
The red-capped beetles (Lycidae) are a family of beetles with around 3,000 species worldwide. In Europe, 12 species occur in Central Europe there are seven. Their main distribution area are the tropics and subtropics .
features
Depending on the species, the beetles are 3 to 80 millimeters long and have a strongly flattened to slightly arched body. The length also varies greatly; there are very elongated to compact types. The beetles, like the soft beetles, only have a weakly chitinized body. The wing covers are strikingly colored and are either unstructured, dotted or have longitudinal grooves, which in some species also act like a square grid due to further elevations in the grooves. Some species lack the wing covers. The skin wings are usually well developed, but there are also species with reduced or missing skin wings. The small head is at least partially hidden under the pronotum . The antennae are thread-like or slightly sawn. They have two, or nine to eleven links. The legs have five tarsus links. There is a strong sexual dimorphism between the sexes of some species . Here the males have a beetle shape, the females, however, are wingless and quite similar to their larval shape, which can also be found in some firefly species .
Way of life
The diurnal or crepuscular beetles can be found on the leaves or flowers of plants growing in the forest. Occasionally they are also found on tree stumps. Some species will eat nectar, but most will likely not eat any food at all. The larvae develop in rotten wood or in the litter and feed on various liquids, but probably also predatory. Little is known about their way of life.
Systematics (Europe)
- Benibotarus alternatus ( Fairmaire , 1856)
- Benibotarus taygetanus ( Pic , 1905)
- Scarlet net beetle ( Dictyoptera aurora ) ( Autumn , 1874)
- Lopheros lineatus ( Gorham , 1883)
- Lopheros rubens ( Gyllenhal , 1817)
- Lygistopterus anorachilus Ragusa , 1883
- Trunk lycidae ( Lygistopterus sanguineus ) ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- Platycis cosnardi ( Chevrolat , 1839)
- Platycis minutus ( Fabricius , 1787)
- Platycis nasutus ( Keisenwetter , 1874)
- Pyropterus nigroruber ( De Geer , 1774)
- Xylobanellus erythropterus ( Baudi , 1871)
credentials
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1
Web links
- Insectos de Argentina y el Mundo (Spanish)
- British Insects: the Families of Coleoptera (English)