List of coleopterans of Sri Lanka explained

Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. The invertebrate fauna is as large as it is common to other regions of the world. There are about 2 million species of arthropods found in the world, and more are still being discovered to this day. This makes it very complicated and difficult to summarize the exact number of species found within a certain region.

This is a list of the coleopterans found from Sri Lanka, using recent family-level classification:[1]

Beetle

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera

Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera. They have two pairs of wings, the front pair, the "elytra", being hardened and thickened into a shell-like protection for the rear pair and the beetle's abdomen. The order contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known animal life-forms. About 40% of all described insect species are beetles (about 400,000 species), and new species are discovered frequently. The largest taxonomic family, the Curculionidae (the weevils or snout beetles), also belongs to this order.

The diversity of beetles is very wide-ranging. They are found in almost all types of habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. In Sri Lanka, particular beetle families are extensively studied,[2] [3] but some others not at all.[4] Most of the studies beetles are due to the fact that they are pests for many cultivations.[5] Numerous works had been done in the 1980s and 1990s by foreign scientists such as Arrow (1910-1931), Franz (1982), Hammond (1972), Hansen (1999), Chatterjee (1924) and Bonadona (1986). The knowledge by local investigators opened in the early 2000s and in 2003, Prof. Dangalle studies heavily on tiger beetles. Then in 2013, Dr. Qader et al. studies beetles in Western province to find their ecological niches and distribution.[6] Weevils were studied by Prof. Gunawardena since 1993 and predatory Coccinellid beetles were studies by Dr. S Mayadunnage.[7] [8] In 2002, Poorani described the updated version of the annotated checklist of the Coccinellidae fauna of the Indian subcontinent, in which 83 species of ladybirds are listed from Sri Lanka.[9] The members of subfamily Melolonthinae also been documented by Brinck, Anderson, and Cederholm. In 1979, Mohamed S. Mohamedsaid studied the taxonomy and distribution of the blister beetles of Sri Lanka. He described 7 genera with 15 species from the family Meloidae.[10] In 2020, one rove beetle and four dung beetles were described from Salgala, Aranayake the Knuckles Range, and Alic Land Estate, Kegalle.[11] [12]

According to Channa Bambaradeniya et al., 3,033 species of coleopterans belongs to 115 families[13] are recorded from Sri Lanka, which comprises the largest animal group in Sri Lanka.[14]

Species count

Family: Aderidae - ant-like leaf beetles

Family: Anthicidae - Ant-like beetles

Family: Anthribidae - Fungus weevils

Family: Attelabidae - Leaf-rolling weevils

Family: Biphyllidae - False Skin beetles

Family: Bolboceratidae - Dor beetles

Family: Bostrichidae - Auger beetles

Family: Bothrideridae - Cocoon-forming beetles

Family: Brachyceridae - Tertiary-brachycerid weevils

Family: Brentidae - Straight-snouted weevils

Family: Buprestidae - Jewel beetles

Family: Callirhipidae - Cedar beetle

Family: Cantharidae - Soldier beetle

Family: Carabidae - Ground beetles

Family: Cerambycidae - Longhorn beetles

Family: Cerylonidae - Minute bark beetles

Family: Chrysomelidae - Leaf beetles

Family: Ciidae - Minute tree-fungus beetles

Family: Clambidae - Fringe-winged beetles

Family: Cleridae - Checkered beetles

Family: Coccinellidae - Lady beetles

Family: Cucujidae - Flat bark beetles

Family: Curculionidae - True weevils and bark beetles

Family: Dermestidae - Skin beetles

Family: Dryopidae - Long-toed water beetles

Family: Dytiscidae - Predaceous diving beetles

Family: Elateridae - Click beetles

Family: Elmidae - Riffle beetles

Family: Endomychidae - Handsome fungus beetles

Family: Erotylidae - Pleasing fungus beetles

Family: Eucinetidae - Plate-thigh beetles

Family: Gyrinidae - Whirligig beetles

Family: Heteroceridae - Variegated mud-loving beetles

Family: Histeridae - Clown beetles

Family: Hybosoridae - Scavenger scarab beetles

Family: Hydrophilidae - Water scavenger beetles

Family: Hydroscaphidae - Skiff beetles

Family: Jacobsoniidae - Jacobson's beetles

Family: Lampyridae - Fireflies

Family: Latridiidae - Minute brown scavenger beetles

Family: Limnichidae - Minute mud beetles

Family: Lucanidae - Stag beetles

Family: Lycidae - Net-winged beetles

Family: Lymexylidae - Ship-timber beetles

Family: Meloidae - Blister beetles

Family: Monotomidae - Root-eating beetles

Family: Mordellidae - Pintail beetles

Family: Mycetophagidae - Hairy fungus beetles

Family: Mycteridae - Palm and flower beetles

Family: Nitidulidae - Sap beetles

Family: Nosodendridae - Wounded-tree beetles

Family: Noteridae - Burrowing water beetles

Family: Oedemeridae - False blister beetles

Family: Omethidae - False soldier beetles

Family: Passalidae - Bess beetles

Family: Prostomidae - Jugular-horned beetles

Family: Psephenidae - Water-penny beetles

Family: Ptiliidae - Feather-wing beetles

Family: Ptilodactylidae

Family: Ptinidae - Spider beetles

Family: Rhynchitidae - Tooth-nosed snout weevils

Family: Salpingidae - Narrow-waisted bark beetles

Family: Scarabaeidae - Scarab beetles

Subfamily: Aphodiinae - Aphodiine dung beetles

Subfamily: Melolonthinae - White grubs

Subfamily: Rutelinae - Shining Flower Chafers

Family: Scirtidae - Marsh beetles

Family: Scraptiidae - False flower beetles

Family: Scydmaenidae - Ant-like stone beetles

Family: Silphidae - Carrion beetles

Family: Silvanidae - Silvan flat bark beetles

Family: Staphylinidae - Rove beetles

Family: Tenebrionidae - Darkling beetles

Family: Trictenotomidae - Croc beetles

Family: Trogidae - Hide beetles

Family: Vesperidae - Vesperid longicorn beetles

Family: Zopheridae - Ironclad beetles

Notes and References

  1. Bouchard . P. . Bousquet . Y. . Davies . A. . Alonso-Zarazaga . M. . Lawrence . J. . Lyal . C. . Newton . A. . Reid . C. . Schmitt . M. . Ślipiński . A. . Smith . A. . Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta) . ZooKeys . 2011 . 88 . 1–972 . 10.3897/zookeys.88.807 . 21594053. 3088472. free .
  2. Anatomy of the smallest coleoptera, featherwing beetles of the tribe nanosellini (Coleoptera, Ptiliidae), and limits of insect miniaturization . Entomological Review. 88. March 2008 . Polilov, A.A . 26–33. 10.1134/S0013873808010041 . 23604779.
  3. Web site: Checklist of longicorn coleoptera of Sri Lanka (1) Vesperidae and Cerambycidae excluding Lamiinae . ffpri . 22 September 2016 . Mannakkara, Amani., Makihara, K..
  4. Web site: Scirtidae (Coleoptera), aquatic larvae, Sri Lanka . Pest net . 22 September 2016.
  5. Web site: Common Insects Of Sri Lanka . Butterfly Conservation Society of Sri Lanka . 22 September 2016 . Wellappuli Arachchi, Supun.
  6. Web site: STUDY ON COLEOPTERAN FAUNA IN SOIL AND LITTER OF WAGA NATURAL. FOREST RESERVE IN SRI LANKA . Open University of Sri Lanka . 22 September 2016.
  7. Web site: Predatory Coccinellids (Coleoptera: Cocinellidae) of Vegetables in Sri Lanka . Tropical Agricultural Research Vol.19 . 22 September 2016 . 69–77.
  8. Web site: Rhynchophorus ferrugineus attractants . National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka . 22 September 2016.
  9. Web site: An annotated checklist of the Coccinellidae fauna of the Indian subregion . 2021-06-17 . Project Directorate of Biological Control.
  10. Web site: The Blister Beetle (Meloidae) of Sri Lanka . 2021-06-17 . Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Sciences) 13(1&2):203-251.
  11. Ranasinghe . Sasanka . Eberle . Jonas . Benjamin . Sresh P. . Ahrens . Dirk . 2020-04-01 . New species of Sericini from Sri Lanka (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) . 2021-08-22 . European Journal of Taxonomy . 621 . en . 10.5852/ejt.2020.621. 216436939 . free .
  12. Jałoszyński . Paweł . 2020-01-03 . Clidicus minilankanus sp. n., with notes on remaining Sri Lankan Clidicus species (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae) . 2021-08-22 . Zootaxa . 4718 . 1 . 87–94 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4718.1.7. 32230043 . 213971376 .
  13. Book: The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation . 23 January 2016 . Bambaradeniya, Channa N. B.. 9789558177518 . 2006 .
  14. Web site: Coleoptera in Sri Lanka . insectoid . 22 September 2016.
  15. Web site: Balkenohl . Michael . 2021-10-21 . Revisiting the Oriental genus Syleter Andrewes, 1941 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Clivinini) . 2022-07-16 . Revue suisse de Zoologie . 10.35929/RSZ.0050.

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