Melyridae (common name: soft-winged flower beetles) are a family of

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 of the superfamily

Cleroidea Cleroidea is a small superfamily of beetles containing over 10,000 species. Most of the members of the group are somewhat slender, often with fairly soft, flexible elytra, and typically hairy or scaly. Description Cleroidea is defined by the f ...

Description

Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 mm long or less. Many are brightly patterned in black and brown, yellow, or red. Some melyrids ( Malachiinae) have peculiar orange structures along the sides of the abdomen, which may be everted and saclike or withdrawn into the body and inconspicuous. Some melyrids have the two basal antennomeres greatly enlarged. Most adults and larvae are predaceous, but many are common on flowers. The most common North American species belong to the genus ''Collops'' ( Malachiinae); ''C. quadrimaculatus'' is reddish, with two bluish black spots on each

elytron An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

. Four New Guinean species of ''

Choresine ''Choresine'' is a genus of beetles that belong to the Melyridae family. This genus of beetle is known to have high levels of batrachotoxins and is believed to be a possible toxin source for Pitohui and Blue-capped ifrit birds in New Guinea. Co ...

'' (the more abundant '' C. pulchra'', the less abundant '' C. semiopaca'' and the two infrequent '' C. rugiceps'' and '' C. sp. A'', the latter as yet unnamed) have been found to contain batrachotoxins, which may account for the toxicity of some birds such as the

Blue-capped ifrit The blue-capped ifrit (''Ifrita kowaldi''), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small and insectivorous passerine species currently placed in the monotypic family, Ifritidae. Previously, the ifrit has been placed in a plethora of families ...

and hooded pitohui which eat them. The hypothesis that ''

Phyllobates ''Phyllobates'' is a genus of poison dart frogs native to Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Colombia. There are 3 different Colombian species of ''Phyllobates'', considered highly toxic species due to the poison they contain in the w ...

'' frogs in South America obtain batrachotoxins from related genera of the Melyridae (''Choresine'' does not occur there) has not been tested due to the difficulty of field-work in Colombia.John P. Dumbacher, Avit Wako, Scott R. Derrickson, Allan Samuelson, Thomas F. Spande, John W. Daly (2004):
Melyrid beetles (Choresine): A putative source for the batrachotoxin alkaloids found in poison-dart frogs and toxic passerine birds
'. The National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 101 no. 45, 15857-15860

Evolutionary history

The oldest fossil of the family are '' Sinomelyris'' and '' Juraniscus'' from the late Middle Jurassic (

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 166.1 ± 4.0 Ma (million years ago) and 163.5 ± 4.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

) Daohugou bed in Inner Mongolia, China. The oldest member of Dasytinae is '' Protodasytes'' from the early Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian) aged Charentese amber of France.

Distribution

The family Melyridae contains over 100 genera worldwide, with ~520 species in 48 genera in North America, and 16 genera in Europe; the largest diversity is in tropical rainforests.

Subfamilies

Various authorities have, at times, treated each of the presently-recognized subfamilies as families, and a few tribes have been accorded family status, as well (e.g., "Attalomimidae"). The family Mauroniscidae was removed from Melyridae in 1995, and Rhadalidae in 2019.Gimmel M.L., Bocakova M., Gunter N.L., Leschen R.A.B. (2019) Comprehensive phylogeny of the Cleroidea (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia). ''Systematic Entomology'' 44: 527-558. * Dasytinae Laporte de Castelnau, 1840 * Malachiinae Fleming, 1821 * Melyrinae Leach, 1815

Selected genera

* ''

Ablechrus ''Ablechrus'' is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Melyridae Melyridae (common name: soft-winged flower beetles) are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. Description Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 m ...

'' Waterhouse, 1877 * '' Amauronia'' Westwood, 1839 * '' Amecocerus'' Solier 1849 * '' Anthocomus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Anthodromius'' Redtenbacher, 1850 * '' Anthomalachius'' Tshernyshev, 2009 * '' Apalochrus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Arthrobrachus'' Solier, 1849 * ''

Astylus ''Astylus'' is a genus of beetles in the family Melyridae Melyridae (common name: soft-winged flower beetles) are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. Description Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 mm long or le ...

'' Laporte, 1836 * '' Asydates'' Casey, 1895 * '' Attalus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Attalusinus'' Leng, 1918 * '' Axinotarsus'' Motschulsky, 1854 * '' Balanophorus'' MacLeay, 1872 * '' Byturosomus'' Motschoulsky, 1859 * '' Carphuroides'' Champion, 1923 * '' Carphurus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Cerallus'' Jacquelin Du Val, 1859 * '' Cerapheles'' Mulsant & Rey, 1867 * '' Ceratistes'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1844 * '' Chaetocoelus'' Leconte, 1880 * '' Chalchas'' Blanchard, 1845 * '' Charopus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Clanoptilus'' Motschulsky, 1854 * ''

Collops A collop is a slice of meat, according to one definition in the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. In Elizabethan times, "collops" came to refer specifically to slices of bacon. Shrove Monday, also known as Collop Monday, was traditionally the last ...

'' Erichson, 1840 * ''

Colotes Colotes of Lampsacus ( el, Κολώτης Λαμψακηνός, ''Kolōtēs Lampsakēnos''; c. 320 – after 268 BC) was a pupil of Epicurus, and one of the most famous of his disciples. He wrote a work to prove "That it is impossible even to live a ...

'' Erichson 1840 * '' Condylops'' Redtenbacher, 1849 * '' Cordylepherus'' Evers, 1985 * '' Cradytes'' Casey, 1895 * '' Cyrtosus'' Motschulsky, 1854 * '' Danacea'' Laporte, 1838 * '' Dasytastes'' Casey, 1895 * '' Dasytellus'' Casey, 1895 * '' Dasytes'' Casey, 1895 * '' Dasytidius'' Schilsky, 1896 * '' Dicranolaius'' Champion, 1921 * '' Divales'' Laporte de Castelnau, 1836 * '' Dolichophron'' Kiesenwetter, 1867 * '' Dolichosoma'' Stephens, 1830 * '' Ebaeus'' Erichson, 1840 * '' Enallonyx'' Wolcott, 1944 * '' Endeodes'' LeConte, 1859 * '' Enicopus'' Stephens, 1830 * '' Eschatocrepis'' Leconte, 1861 * '' Falsomelyris'' Pic, 1913 * '' Hadrocnemus'' Kraatz, 1895 * '' Halyles'' Broun, 1883 * '' Haplomalachius'' Evers, 1985 * '' Hoppingiana'' Blaisdell, 1924 * '' Hylodanacaea'' Pic, 1926 * '' Hypebaeus'' Kiesenwetter, 1863 * '' Intybia'' Pascoe, 1866 * '' Laius'' Guérin-Méneville, 1830 * '' Leptovectura'' Casey, 1895 * '' Listropsis'' Blaisdell, 1924 * '' Listrus'' Motschoulsky, 1859 * '' Malachius'' Fabricius, 1775 * '' Melyris'' Fabricius, 1775 * '' Melyrodes'' Gorham, 1882 * '' Microlipus'' Leconte, 1852 * '' Nepachys'' Thomson, 1859 * '' Nodopus'' Marshall, 1951 * '' Pagurodactylus'' Gorham, 1900 * '' Psilothrix'' Redtenbacher, 1858 * '' Scelopristis'' Mayor, 2004 * '' Sphinginus'' Mulsant & Rey, 1867 * '' Spinapalochrus'' * '' Tanaops'' Leconte, 1859 * '' Temnopsophus'' Horn, 1872 * '' Trichochrous'' Motschulsky, 1859 * ''

Trophimus Trophimus ( el, Τρόφιμος, ''Tróphimos'') or Trophimus the Ephesian ( el, Τρόφιμος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, ''Tróphimos ho Ephésios'') was a Christian who accompanied Paul of Tarsus, Paul during a part of his third missionary jou ...

'' Horn, 1870 * '' Vecturoides'' Fall, 1930

Notes

Fauna Europaea

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