Rhysodidae

Rhysodidae (sometimes called wrinkled bark beetles) is a family of beetles, consisting of more than 350 species in about 20 genera.

Wrinkled bark beetle
Kaveinga lusca
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
(unranked): Endopterygota
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Adephaga
Family: Rhysodidae
Laporte, 1840
Tribes
  • Clinidiini
  • Dhysorini
  • Leoglymmiini
  • Medisorini
  • Omoglymmiini
  • Rhysodini
  • Sloanoglymmiini

These beetles are elongate, in size ranging from 5–8 mm, and color ranging from a reddish brown to black. Both the thorax and the elytra are deeply grooved lengthwise, thus giving these beetles their common name. The head is also grooved, and posteriorly constricted into a short but visible "neck". The 11-segment antennae are short, resembling a string of beads, while the mandibles lack cutting edges and are thus nonfunctional. The front legs are short and strongly built,

Adults and larvae live in moist rotten wood that is infested with slime moulds, which are believed to be their diet. Instead of using their mandibles to bite, they use the anterior edge of the mentum and swivel their heads to cut off pieces of food. Adults do not make burrows, instead just squeezing between the cell layers of the decomposed wood, generally leaving no visible trace of their passage, while larvae live in short tunnels.

They occur on all continents with forested areas, the richest fauna being found in New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and northern South America.

Classification remains controversial, with specialist Ross T. Bell arguing for placement as a tribe Rhysodini of Carabidae, while R. G. Beutel and others argue that larval characteristics indicate that rhysodids are their own family.[1] Recent DNA analysis supports the placement of Rhysodidae within the family Carabidae.[2]

The following genera have generally been treated as members of the family Rhysodidae, but are now sometimes considered members of Carabidae instead.

References
  1. Bousquet, Yves (2012). "Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico". ZooKeys. Pensoft (245): 1–1722. doi:10.3897/zookeys.245.3416. PMC 3577090. PMID 23431087.
  2. Mckenna, Duane D.; Wild, Alexander L.; Kanda, Kojun; Bellamy, Charles L.; et al. (2015). "The beetle tree of life reveals that Coleoptera survived end‐Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution". Systematic Entomology. 40 (4): 835–880. doi:10.1111/syen.12132. hdl:10057/11540.
  • Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001)
  • Rolf G. Beutel; Richard A. B. Leschen (2005). Handbuch der Zoologie - Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 1: Morphology and Systematics (Archostemata, Adephaga, Myxophaga, Polyphaga partim) (in German) (1st ed.). de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-017130-9.

Data related to Rhysodidae at Wikispecies

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