Oxynopterus mucronatus

Oxynopterus mucronatus, sometimes known as the giant click beetle, is a species of click beetle from tropical Southeast Asia. Their larvae are specialized predators of termites.[1]

Giant click beetle
Male O. mucronatus from Mindanao, Philippines
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Elateridae
Tribe:
Oxynopterini
Genus:
Oxynopterus
Species:
O. mucronatus
Binomial name
Oxynopterus mucronatus
(Olivier, 1792)
Synonyms
  • Elater mucronatus Olivier, 1792

Taxonomy

Oxynopterus mucronatus was originally described by the French entomologist Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1792 as Elater mucronatus. The type specimen was obtained from the collection of William V, Prince of Orange.[2][3] It became the type species of the genus Oxynopterus, established by the English naturalist Frederick William Hope in 1842. O. mucronatus is classified under the tribe Oxynopterini, in the click beetle family Elateridae.[4][5]

The generic name Oxynopterus means "sharp-wing" in ancient Greek; while the specific name mucronatus is Latin for "pointed". Both refer to the sharp, pointed tips of the elytra.[6]

Description

O. mucronatus, like other members of the genus Oxynopterus, are among the largest of the click beetles.[7][8] The males have distinctive feather-like antennae, with long flat lamellae extending from the antenna segments. The females in contrast, have thin toothed antennae and are larger than the males. The prothorax is shield-shaped, with sharply pointed posteriolateral tips. The elytra are long and smooth, tapering to a sharp point. The claws are simple, without bristles (setae), pads, or lobes on the tarsal segments. They are predominantly reddish-brown in life.[4][6]

Ecology

The larvae of O. mucronatus are specialized predators of termites of the genus Neotermes.[1][4][9]

Uses

Dried O. mucronatus is regarded as a traditional aphrodisiac in Javanese culture.[10] They are also popular among insect collectors due to their large sizes.[8]

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See also

References
  1. Kalshoven, L.G.E. (1955). "Additional note on the giant Elaterid, Oxynopterus mucronatus Ol., a predator on termites in Java". Entomologische Berichten. 1 (1): 273–278.
  2. Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste; Bruguière, Jean Guillaume; Olivier, Guillaume-Antoine; Haüy, René Just; Pelletier, Bertrand (1792). Journal d'Histoire Naturelle. Imprimerie du Cercle-Social. p. 262.
  3. Jardine, W.; Selby, P.J.; Johnston, George; Babington, Charles C.; Balfour, J.H.; Taylor, Richard, eds. (1843). "Proceedings of the Royal Society; Royal Society of Edinburgh; Zoological Society; Botanical Society of London; Botanical Society of Edinburgh". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History including Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 11. R. and J.E. Taylor. pp. 378–403.
  4. Stibick, Jeffrey N.L. (1979). "Classification of the Elateridae (Coleoptera): Relationships and classification of the subfamilies and tribes" (PDF). Pacific Insects. 20 (2–3): 145–186.
  5. Löbl, Ivan; Smetana, Ales, eds. (2007). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 4: Elateroidea - Deodontoidea - Bostrichoidea - Lymexyloidea - Cleroidea - Cucujoidea. Apollo Books. p. 94. ISBN 9789004260894.
  6. Wood, John George (1883). Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations. Longmans, Green, and Co. p. 158.
  7. Suzuki, Wataru (2001). "Notes on three species of the genus Oxynopterus (Coleoptera, Elateridae) from Southeast Asia, with description of a new species" (PDF). Elytra, Tokyo. 29 (2): 326–334.
  8. Bouchard, Patrice (2014). The Book of Beetles: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred of Nature's Gems. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226082899.
  9. Costa, Cleide; Lawrence, John F.; Rosa, Simone Policena (2011). "Elateridea leach, 1815". In Leschen, Richard A.B.; Beutel, Rolf G.; Lawrence, John F. (eds.). Coleoptera, Beetles. Volume 2: Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim). Handbook of Zoology. Walter de Gruyter. p. 77. ISBN 9783110911213.
  10. Meyer-Rochow, V. Benno (7 February 2017). "Therapeutic arthropods and other, largely terrestrial, folk-medicinally important invertebrates: a comparative survey and review". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 13 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/s13002-017-0136-0. PMID 28173820.
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