''Iphthiminus'' is a genus of

darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour beetles ...

s in the subfamily

Tenebrioninae Tenebrioninae is the largest subfamily of the darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae), containing flour beetles, among others. Tenebrioninae contains more than 20 tribes. Description Adults Adults are robust, mid-sized beetles that typically have e ...

Species

Species within this genus include: *'' Iphthiminus italicus'' (Truqui, 1857) *'' Iphthiminus lewisii'' (Horn, 1870) *'' Iphthiminus opacus'' (LeConte, 1866) *'' Iphthiminus serratus'' (Mannerheim, 1843)

Habitat and Diet

''Ipthiminus'' are generally found under bark, especially in the rotting logs of

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

trees such as the

Ponderosa Pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

. ''Ipthiminus'' has been seen eating subcortical fungus, fruiting fungus such as '' Trichaptum'', and rotting wood itself in lavatory conditions.

References

Tenebrioninae Tenebrionidae genera {{Tenebrionidae-stub