Brachypsectridae

The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles.[1] There are only two extant genera, Brachypsectra and Asiopsectra. The type species, Brachypsectra fulva (LeConte, 1874), occurs in North America. Other species in the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. Two other extant and fossil species have been described from the Dominican Republic.[2] While formerly considered monogeneric, in 2016 Asiopsectra was described from specimens found in Iran and Tajikistan.[3] Two extinct genera, Vetubrachypsectra and Hongipsectra, known from adults, and a larval genus, Cretopsectra are known from Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.[4][5][6]

Brachypsectridae
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Elateriformia
Superfamily: Elateroidea
Family: Brachypsectridae
LeConte and Horn, 1883
Genera

Brachypsectra

Taxonomy

The family is somewhat enigmatic since the discovery and description of the first species, Brachypsectra fulva. This was originally included in the family Dascillidae, but was later placed in the new family Brachypsectridae by Horn (1881).[7]

Description

Members of this family are small (4–8 mm), flattened, relatively soft-bodied, brown or yellow beetles with large eyes. The elytra are indistinctly striated and the antennae form a club.[8]

The larvae are distinctive being described by Gordon Floyd Ferris in 1927 and Blair in 1930 as being "entomological enigmas". They were not associated with the adult beetles until 25 years after their discovery by Barber in 1905. They are ovate and flattened and have moderately long, lateral lobes lined with elongated feathery lobules on all the thoracic segments and the first eight abdominal segments. The head and the posterior abdominal segments are relatively small and dark-coloured.[8]

Species
  • Brachypsectra fulva LeConte - North America
  • Brachypsectra fuscula Blair - Singapore
  • Brachypsectra lampyroides Blair - south India
  • Brachypsectra moronei Branham - found fossilised in amber in the Dominican Republic
  • Brachypsectra vivafosile Woodruff - Dominican Republic
  • Brachypsectra sp. - Australia[8]

References
  1. Arnett, R.H., Jr. 1962. The beetles of the United States. A manual for identification. Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. xi + 1055 pp. Brachypsectridae: p. 529-530; fig. 1.521.
  2. Costa, C.; Vanin, S.A.; Lawrence, J.F.; Ide, S.; Branham, M.A. 2006. Review of the family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 99: 409-432.
  3. Kovalev, Alexey V.; Kirejtshuk, Alexander G. (2016-06-16). "Asiopsectra gen. n., a second genus of the family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea) from the Palaearctic Region". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 47 (3): 195–208. doi:10.1163/1876312X-47022140. ISSN 1399-560X.
  4. Qu, Tianquan; Yin, Ziwei; Huang, Diying; Cai, Chenyang (February 2020). "First Mesozoic brachypsectrid beetles in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Brachypsectridae)". Cretaceous Research. 106: 104190. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.07.020.
  5. Zhao, Xianye; Zhao, Xiangdong; Jarzembowski, Edmund; Tian, Yuan; Chen, Lei (September 2020). "The first record of brachypsectrid larva from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Polyphaga)". Cretaceous Research. 113: 104493. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104493.
  6. Tihelka, Erik; Huang, Diying; Cai, Chenyang (2019-10-31). "Diverse Texas beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Brachypsectridae) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber: sexual dimorphism and palaeoecology". Palaeoentomology. 2 (5): 523–531. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.5.16. ISSN 2624-2834.
  7. BugGuide
  8. Review of the Family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea)
  • Tree of Life
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