Kateretidae also known as short-winged flower beetles are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of beetles 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 ...
.
[ There are 10 extant and 4 extinct ]genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
, and at least 40 described species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
.[ They are found worldwide except in ]New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Adults are anthophagous, feeding on flowers, while the larvae are spermatophagous inside the flower corolla.
Genera
* '' Amartus'' LeConte, 1861 i c g b
* '' Anamartus'' Jelinek, 1976 g
* '' Anthonaeus'' Horn, 1879 i c g b
* '' Boreades'' Parson, 1943 i c g
* '' Brachyleptus'' Motschulsky, 1845 g
* '' Brachypterolus'' Grouvelle, 1913 i c g b
* '' Brachypterus'' Kugelann, 1794 i c g b
* '' Heterhelus'' DuVal, 1858 i c g b
* '' Kateretes'' Herbst, 1793 i c g b
* '' Neobrachypterus'' Jelínek, 1979 i c g
*†'' Eoceniretes'' Kirejtshuk & Nel, 2008 g
*†'' Lebanoretes'' Kirejtshuk and Azar 2008 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 ...
)
Data sources: i = ITIS,[ c = Catalogue of Life,][ g = GBIF,][ b = Bugguide.net]
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
taxa '' Cretaretes'', '' Electrumeretes'', '' Furcalabratum'', '' Pelretes'', '' Polliniretes'', '' Protokateretes'' and '' Scaporetes'' from the Cretaceous Kachin amber from Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
, originally described as kateretids, were subsequently argued to be sap beetle
The sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a family (biology), family of beetles.
They are small (2–6 mm) ovoid, usually dull-coloured beetles, with knobbed antenna (biology), antennae. Some have red or yellow spots or bands. They fe ...
s belonging to the subfamily Apophisandrinae or members of the separate family Apophisandridae. ''Pelretes'' has been described and claimed to have been an pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
of angiosperms
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...
based on it being preserved in amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
that also contained angiosperm pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
, much of it in coprolites
A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name i ...
, although this interpretation has been questioned.
References
External links
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Cucujoidea families
{{Cucujoidea-stub