Monotomidae is a family of
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s in the superfamily
Cucujoidea
Cucujoidea is a superfamily of beetles. This group formerly included all of the families now included in the superfamily Coccinelloidea. They include some fungus beetles and a diversity of lineages of "bark beetles" unrelated to the "true" bark ...
. The family is found worldwide, with approximately 240 species in 33 genera. The ecological habits of the family are diverse, with different members of the group being found under tree bark, in decaying vegetation, on flowers and in ant nests. Their ecology is obscure, while at least some species are mycophagous, feeding on the fruiting bodies of
ascomycete
Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...
fungi, ''
Rhyzophagus'' are predators on
bark beetles
A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct Family (biology), family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculioni ...
(includings, eggs, larvae and young adults) and possibly
Phoridae
The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking flight. This behaviour is a source of one of their al ...
larvae, with the larvae of some species also being mycophagous.
Taxonomy
Monotomidae contains the following genera:
Monotomidae Species List
at Joel Hallan’s Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved on 17 May 2012.
* Rhizophaginae Redtenbacher 1845
**'' Rhizophagus'' Herbst, 1793
*Subfamiliy Monotominae
**Tribe Lenacini Crowson, 1952
***'' Lenax'' Sharp, 1877
**Tribe Monotomini Laporte, 1840
*** '' Monotoma'' Herbst, 1793
** Tribe Thionini Crowson, 1952
*** '' Thione'' Sharp, 1899
*** '' Shoguna'' Lewis, 1884
*** '' Arunus'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
** Tribe Europini Sen Gupta, 1988
***'' Afrobaenus'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Aneurops'' Sharp, 1900
*** '' Bactridium'' J.LeConte, 1861
*** '' Barunius'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Crowsonius'' Pakaluk & Slipinski, 1993
*** '' Eporus'' Grouvelle, 1897
*** '' Europs'' Wollaston, 1854
*** '' Hesperobaenus'' J.LeConte, 1861
*** '' Hiekesia'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Indoleptipsius'' Pal, 2000
*** '' Kakamodes'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Leptipsius'' Casey, 1916
*** '' Macreurops'' Casey, 1916
*** '' Malabica'' Sen Gupta, 1988
*** '' Malinica'' Sen Gupta, 1988
*** '' Mimema'' Wollaston, 1861
*** '' Mimemodes'' Reitter, 1876
*** '' Monotomopsis'' Grouvelle, 1896
*** '' Monotopion'' Reitter, 1884
*** '' Noveurops'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Pararhizophagus'' Méquignon, 1913
*** '' Phyconomus'' LeConte, 1861
*** '' Pycnotomina'' Casey, 1916
*** '' Renuka'' Sen Gupta, 1988
*** '' Rhizophagoides'' Nakane & Hisamatsu, 1963
*** '' Rumnicus'' Sen Gupta & Pal, 1995
*** '' Tarunius'' Sen Gupta, 1977
Fossil genera
* †'' Jurorhizophagus'' Cai et al. 2015 Daohugou, China, Middle Jurassic (Callovian
In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...
)
* †'' Cretakarenni'' Peris and Delclòs 2015 Spanish amber, Escucha Formation, Early Cretaceous (Albian
The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...
), 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. Th ...
, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...
)
* †'' Cretolenax'' Liu et al. 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
* †'' Rhizobactron'' Kirejtshuk 2013 Lebanese amber
Lebanese amber is fossilized resin found in Lebanon and its surroundings. It dates back approximately 130-125 million years to the Barremian of the Early Cretaceous. It formed on what was then the northern coast of Gondwana, believed to be a tropic ...
, Early Cretaceous (Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 125.77 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma (Historically, this stage was placed at 129.4 million to approximately 125 million years ago) It is a ...
)
* †'' Rhizophtoma'' Kirejtshuk and Azar 2009 Lebanese amber, Barremian, Alava amber, Escucha Formation, Spain, Albian
References
Cucujoidea families
{{Monotomidae-stub