Prostomidae

Prostomidae is a family of beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name jugular-horned beetles. They are often found in dead wood.[1] The family consist of two genera with about 20 species. Prostomis mandibularis is known from North America. Other species of Prostomis are found in Africa, the Pacific region and East Asia. Species of Dryocora are known from New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania.[1]

Prostomidae
Temporal range: Cenomanian-Recent
Prostomis mandibularis, adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Tenebrionoidea
Family: Prostomidae
C. G. Thomson, 1859
Genera

Prostomidae are elongate beetles with parallel sided elytra. Thy are prognathous and have a large jugular process. The antennae are 11 segmented with a weak club formed by the last three segments. The large mandibles, small eyes, the eltra and pronotum of the same width, and a tarsal formula of 4-4-4 make them distinctive. Larvae and adults are found mainly inside fallen logs.[2]

†Vetuprostomis consimilis is an extinct member described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber found in northern Myanmar.[3]

References
  1. Michael A. Ivie (2002). Ross H. Arnett & Michael Charles Thomas (ed.). American Beetles: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. Volume 2 of American Beetles. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-0954-0.
  2. Park, Jong-Seok; Ahn, Kee-Jeong (2005). "A Taxonomic Note on the Little Known Family Prostomidae in Korea (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea)". Entomological Research. 35 (3): 169–171. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5967.2005.tb00154.x. ISSN 1738-2297.
  3. Engel, M.S.; Grimaldi, D.A. (2008). "A jugular-horned beetle in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Coleoptera: Prostomidae)". Alavesia. 2: 215–218.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.