Jacobsoniidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of tiny

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s belonging to

Staphylinoidea Staphylinoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is a very large and diverse group with worldwide distribution. Description Adult staphylinoids are generally small beetles no more than a few millimetres long, though Staphylinidae can reach 50 mm ...

. The

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. T ...

and adults live under

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, e ...

, in

plant litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constitue ...

, fungi,

bat guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. ...

and rotten wood. There are around 28 described species in three genera:

Description

Members of this family have a small body size (0.7-2.1mm in length). Their bodies are narrow, and are four times as long as they are wide. They are often a yellowish-brown in color.

Ecology

Members of the group have primarily been found in leaf litter or in rotting wood, but some has have also been found in fungal fruting bodies or bat guano. The biology of members of this group is essentially unknown.

Taxonomy

Their taxonomic position has long been controversial, originally they were placed in

Dermestoidea Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,100 species described. Dermestids have ...

, before being considered

Polyphaga Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse suborder of beetles. It comprises 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and displays an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation, with over 350,000 described species, or approximately 90% of the be ...

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

.'' They were later placed in the

, which is supported by characters of the wing venation as well as the morphology of the larval galea of the maxillae.

Distribution

Members of this family have been found in Alabama, Florida, South America, Central America,

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Asia.

Taxonomy

* Genus '' Sarothrias'' Grouvelle, 1918 (India, Southeast Asia, China, Oceania) ** '' Sarothrias amabilis'' Ślipiński & Löbl, 1995 ** '' Sarothrias audax'' Ślipiński & Löbl, 1995 ** '' Sarothrias bournei'' Ślipiński, 1986 ** †'' Sarothrias cretaceus'' Cai ''et al''., 2017 (

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in ...

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

) ** '' Sarothrias crowsoni'' Löbl & Burckhardt, 1988 ** '' Sarothrias dimerus'' (Heller, 1926) ** '' Sarothrias eximius'' Grouvelle, 1918 ** '' Sarothrias fijianus'' Löbl & Burckhardt, 1988 ** '' Sarothrias hygrophilus'' Pal, 1998 ** '' Sarothrias indicus'' Dajoz, 1978 ** '' Sarothrias lawrencei'' Löbl & Burckhardt, 1988 ** '' Sarothrias morokanus'' Poggi, 1991 ** '' Sarothrias pacificus'' Ślipiński & Löbl, 1995 ** '' Sarothrias papuanus'' Ślipiński, 1986 ** '' Sarothrias sinicus'' Bi & Chen, 2015 ** '' Sarothrias songi'' Yin & Bi, 2018 * Genus '' Saphophagus'' Sharp, 1886 (New Zealand) ** '' Saphophagus minutus'' Sharp, 1886 * Genus '' Derolathrus'' Sharp, 1908 (Oceania,

Macaronesia Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands ...

, North America, Mauritius, Indian subcontinent) ** †'' Derolathrus abyssus'' Yamamoto & Parker, 2017 (

) ** '' Derolathrus anophthalmus'' (Franz, 1969) ** '' Derolathrus atomus'' Sharp, 1908 ** '' Derolathrus cavernicolus'' Peck, 2010 ** †'' Derolathrus capdoliensis'' Tihelka ''et al''., 2022 (

, Charentese amber) ** '' Derolathrus ceylonicus'' (Sen Gupta, 1979) ** †'' Derolathrus groehni'' Cai ''et al''., 2016 (

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than ...

) ** '' Derolathrus insularis'' (Dajoz, 1973) ** '' Derolathrus parvulus'' (Rücker, 1983) ** '' Derolathrus sharpi'' Grouvelle, 1912 ** '' Derolathrus troglophilus'' (Sen Gupta, 1979)

References

External links

Jacobsoniidae at Fauna Europaea
Bostrichoidea Beetle families {{Bostrichoidea-stub