Brachypsectridae

Brachypsectridae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Elateroidea
Family: Brachypsectridae
LeConte and Horn, 1883
Genera

Brachypsectra

The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles.[1] There is only one genus, Brachypsectra. The type species, Brachypsectra fulva (LeConte, 1874), occurs in North America. There are three other species which occur in southern India, Singapore and northwestern Australia. Two other extant and fossil species have been described from the Dominican Republic.[2]

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).[3]

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.[4]

The larvae are distinctive being described by 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.[4]

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[4]

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. ↑ BugGuide
  4. 1 2 3 Review of the Family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea)
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