Ceratocanthinae is a subfamily of the scarabaeoid beetle family

Hybosoridae Hybosoridae, sometimes known as the scavenger scarab beetles, is a family of Scarabaeiformia, scarabaeiform beetles. The >600 species in 78 extant genera occur widely in the tropics, but little is known of their biology. Hybosorids are small, 5 ...

. It includes three tribes comprising 43 genera and 366 species; it was formerly treated as a separate family, Ceratocanthidae.

Description

Ceratocanthinae are small sized beetles from 2.0 to 10.0 millimeters in length. Adult beetles can be found on the bark and branches of dead trees and on

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

Distribution

Ceratocanthinae are relatively widespread. They can be found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

, Indomalaysian,

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

, and

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

regions.

Ecology

The adults have been found to associate with

termites Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the sof ...

and

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

. Larvae live under bark and in burrows of bessbugs (

Passalidae Passalidae is a family of beetles known variously as "bessbugs", "bess beetles", "betsy beetles", "betsy bugs", or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species found in North America are notable for their siz ...

Taxonomy

The subfamily Ceratocanthinae contains 43 genera:

References

External links

Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles
HYBOSORIDAE... Ceratocanthinae Martínez, 1968 {{Taxonbar, from=Q30148056 Scarabaeiformia Beetle subfamilies