Ptilodactylidae Explained

Ptilodactylidae is a family of beetles belonging to the Elateriformia. There around 500 extant species in 35 genera. They are generally associated with riparian and aquatic habitats. The larvae generally live associated with rotting wood or vegetation, or within gravel and detritus on the edge of water bodies. The larvae of some species feed on submerged rotting wood or on plant roots, while the adults of some species are known to feed on fungus with modified brush-like maxillae.^[1]

Genera

Subfamily Anchytarsinae Champion, 1897

• Anchycteis Horn, 1880
• Anchytarsus Guérin-Méneville, 1843
• Byrrocryptus Broun, 1893
• Epilichas White, 1859
• Pseudoepilichas Armstrong & Nakane, 1956
• †Electrolichas Alekseev & Jäch 2016 Baltic amber, Eocene

Subfamily Cladotominae Pic, 1914

• Austrolichus Lawrence & Stribling, 1992
• Cladotoma Westwood, 1837
• Drupeus Lewis, 1895
• Hovactyla Fairmaire, 1901
• Paralichus White, 1859
• Pseudocladotoma Pic, 1918

Subfamily Apoglossinae Champion, 1897

• Apoglossa Guérin-Méneville, 1843
• Bradytoma Guérin-Méneville, 1849
• Octoglossa Guérin-Méneville, 1843

Subfamily Araeopidiinae Lawrence, 1991

• Araeopidius Cockerell, 1906

Subfamily Ptilodactylinae Laporte, 1836

• Chelonariomorphus Pic, 1916
• Daemon Laporte, 1836
• Falsotherius Pic, 1913
• Lachnodactyla Champion, 1897
• Microdrupeus Nakane, 1993
• Pherocladus Fairmaire, 1881
• Podabrocephalus Pic, 1913
• Ptilodactyla Illiger, 1807
• Stirophora Champion, 1897

Subfamily Unplaced

• Aphebodactyla Chatzimanolis, Cashion, Engel, & Falin, 2012
• Falsoptilodactyla Pic, 1958
• Ptilodactyloides Motschulsky, 1856
• Therius Guérin-Méneville, 1849
• Valoka Deleve, 1872
• †Aphebodactyla Chatzimanolis et al. 2012 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Ptilodactyloides Motschulsky 1856 Baltic amber, Eocene

Further reading

• Book: Arnett . R.H. Jr.. Thomas . M. C.. Skelley . P. E.. Frank . J. H.. 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press.
• Book: Kellogg . Vernon L.. 1905. American insects. H. Holt.
• Book: Arnett . Ross H. Jr.. 2000. American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. CRC Press. 2nd Edition. 0-8493-0212-9.
• Book: Leng . Charles W.. 1920. Catalogue of the Coleoptera of America, North of Mexico. John D. Sherman, Jr..
• Book: Crotch . G.R.. 1873. Check list of the Coleoptera of America, north of Mexico. Naturalists' Agency.
• Book: Capinera . John L.. 2008. Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer. 978-1402062421.
• Book: Gillott. Cedric. 1980. Entomology. Plenum Press. 0-306-40366-8. registration.
• Book: Donald J. Borror. Roger Tory Peterson. Richard E. White. 1998. A Field Guide to Insects. registration. Houghton Mifflin. 978-0-395-91170-9.
• Book: Blatchley . W.S.. 1910. An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the Coleoptera, beetles (exclusive of the Rhynchophora) known to occur in Indiana. Nature Pub..
• Book: Papp . Charles S.. 1984. Introduction to North American Beetles. Entomography Pubns.
• Book: White . Richard E.. 1983. Peterson Field Guides: Beetles. Houghton Mifflin.

Notes and References

1. Lawrence, John F.. "Ptilodactylidae Laporte, 1836: Coleoptera, Beetles". Handbook of Zoology Online, edited by Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.