Cupedidae

The Cupedidae are a small family of beetles, notable for the square pattern of "windows" on their elytra (hard forewings), which give the family their common name of reticulated beetles.[1]

Cupedidae
Tenomerga mucida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Archostemata
Family: Cupedidae
Laporte, 1836
Genera

Adinolepsis
Ascioplaga
Cupes
Distocupes
Paracupes
Priacma
Prolixocupes
Rhipsideigma
Tenomerga

The family consists of about 30 species in 9 genera, with a worldwide distribution. Many more extinct species are known, dating as far back as the Triassic.[1]

These beetles tend to be elongated with a parallel-sided body, ranging in length from 10 to 20 mm, with colors brownish, blackish, or gray. The larvae are wood-borers, typically living in fungus-infested wood, and sometimes found in wood construction.[1] The larvae of this species eat the fungus-infested dead wood or tree roots while the adults are believed to subsist on pollen and plant sap.[2]

Males of Priacma serrata (western North America) are notable for being strongly attracted to common household bleach. This suggests that compounds in bleach may resemble attractive compounds found by the beetle in nature.[1]

Fossil cupedid genera have been described from a number of amber deposits of varying ages including Burmese amber.

References
  1. Evans, Arthur V.; Hogue, James N. (15 November 2006). "Family Groups: Reticulated Beetles Cupedidae". Field Guide to Beetles of California. University of California Press. pp. 51–. ISBN 978-0-520-24657-7.
  2. Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Wang, Bo; Zheng, Daran (2017-10-01). "A new spiny reticulated beetle (Coleoptera: Cupedidae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 128 (5): 798–802. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.003. ISSN 0016-7878.

Edmund A. Jarzembowski, Bo Wang, Daran Zheng, The first notocupedin beetle in mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata),

Edmund A. Jarzembowski, Bo Wang, Daran Zheng, A new spiny reticulated beetle (Coleoptera: Cupedidae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Volume 128, Issues 5–6, 2017,


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