Latridiidae

Latridiidae (sometimes spelled "Lathridiidae") is a family of tiny, little-known beetles commonly called minute brown scavenger beetles or fungus beetles. The number of described species currently stands at around 1050 in 29 genera but the number of species is undoubtedly much higher than this and increases each time a new estimate is made.

Description

Adult beetles in this family are some shade of brown and between in length. The antennae have eight to eleven segments, the terminal one to three segments forming a club. The elytra are wider than the head and thorax, and are punctured by rows of small pits. The dorsal surface is rough. Most species are unable to fly.

A characteristic separating latridiids from other beetles is that each leg ends in a tarsus with three segments (tarsal formula 3-3-3).

The two subfamilies of latridiids differ from each other in appearance. Latridiinae are glabrous, rarely have erect setae, their dorsal surfaces are often heavily sculptured, and the pronotal side margin is usually smooth. Corticariinae are finely pubescent, usually have recumbent setae, their dorsal surfaces never have heavy sculpture, and the pronotal side margin is usually serrate.

Ecology

These beetles and their larvae are obligate feeders on the hyphae and spores of fungi, moulds and mildews. They occur in damp places where such fungi are found, under bark, in leaf litter, in decaying plant material, in timber stacked outdoors, and in ant and termite nests. They may be present in ripening cereal crops but will not persist in clean, dry stored grain; however damp grain, or grain heavily contaminated by other insects, will support them.

They may infest brewers yeast and contaminate food by introducing mould spores. Species of '' Dienerella'' have caused the deterioration of foodstuffs, and hygiene problems in a hospital have been linked to '' Dienerella filum''. They have been shown to consume ''Ustilago'', '' Arcticum'', '' Polysaccum'', '' Tilletia'', ''Lycoperdon'' and '' Trichothecium''. They also thrive on mixed cultures of ''Penicillium'', ''Mucor'', ''Botrytis'' and ''Aspergillus''.

Genera

* Subfamily Latridiinae Erichson 1842
** '' Adistemia'' Fall 1899
** †'' Archelatrius'' Kirejtshuk & Azar 2009 Lebanese amber, Early Cretaceous (Barremian)
** '' Besuchetia'' Dajoz 1975
** '' Cartodere'' Thomson 1859
** '' Dicastria'' Dajoz 1967
** '' Dienerella'' Reitter 1911
** '' Enicmus'' Thomson 1859
** '' Euchionellus'' Reitter 1908
** '' Eufallia'' Muttkowski 1910
** '' Eufalloides'' Hinton 1941
** '' Herfordia'' Halstead 1967
** '' Latridius'' Herbst 1793
** '' Lithostygnus'' Broun 1886
** '' Metophthalmoides'' Dajoz 1967
** '' Metophthalmus'' Motschulsky 1850
** '' Mumfordia'' van Dyke 1935
** '' Nalpaumia'' Dajoz 1976
** '' Revelieria'' Perris 1869
** '' Stephostethus'' LeConte 1878
** '' Thes'' Semenov Tian-Shansky 1910
* Subfamily Corticariinae Curtis 1829
** '' Austrophthalma'' Dajoz 1966
** '' Bicava'' Belon 1884
** '' Corticaria'' Marsham 1802
** '' Corticarina'' Reitter 1881
** †'' Corticariites'' Kirejtshuk 2019 Bembridge Marls, United Kingdom, Eocene (Priabonian)
** '' Corticaromus'' Pal & Ghosh 2007
** '' Cortinicara'' Johnson 1975
** '' Fuchsina'' Fall 1899
** '' Melanophthalma'' Motschulsky 1866
** '' Migneuxia'' Jacquelin du Val 1859
** '' Paracaria'' Dajoz 1970
** '' Rethusus'' Broun 1886
** †'' Succinimontia'' Zherikhin 1977 Taimyr amber, Russia, Late Cretaceous (Santonian)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1089678

Coccinelloidea
Polyphaga families