Prostomidae

Prostomidae
Temporal range: Cenomanian-Recent
Prostomis mandibularis
Dryocora howitti
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Tenebrionoidea
Family: Prostomidae
C. G. Thomson, 1859
Genera
Larva of Dryocora howitti

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 extant genera with about 20 species. Prostomis americanus is known from North America. Other species of Prostomis are found in Europe, Africa, the Pacific region and East Asia. Species of Dryocora are known from New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania.[1]

Prostomidae are elongate beetles with parallel sided elytra. They have the mandibles forward facing (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 elytra 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] The larvae feed on the rotten wood, particularly on the rotting heartwood of thick logs, as well as the mud-like matter found in red coloured decomposing wood.[3]

An extinct genus, Vetuprostomis is known from several species described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber found in northern Myanmar. It is suggested to be more closely related to Dryocora than to Prostomis.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ Seago, Ainsley and Beutel, Rolf G.. "11.15. Prostomidae G. G.Thomson, 1859". Volume 2 Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim), edited by Willy Kükenthal, Richard A.B. Leschen, Rolf G. Beutel and John F. Lawrence, Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2011, pp. 659-667.
  4. ^ Engel, M.S.; Grimaldi, D.A. (2008). "A jugular-horned beetle in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Coleoptera: Prostomidae)". Alavesia. 2: 215–218.
  5. ^ Li, Yan-Da; Hsiao, Yun; Huang, Di-Ying; Cai, Chen-Yang (2022-04-13). "New species of Vetuprostomis from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Prostomidae)". Zootaxa. 5125 (5): 563–574. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5125.5.6. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 36101196.


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