Pythidae Explained

The family Pythidae is a small group of tenebrionoid beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name dead log bark beetles. There are seven genera, which are largely native to the mid-high latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere and Australia, with one genus also present in the tropical Americas. The larvae are generally found with decaying vegetation and wood on which they feed, while adults are not associated with the larvae and are generally caught using malaise traps and light traps.^[1]

Genera

These genera belong to the family Pythidae

• Anaplopus Blackburn, 1890 Australia
• Ischyomius Chevrolat, 1878

^g Central America and Northern South America

• Osphyoplesius Winkler, 1915

^g Palearctic

• Priognathus LeConte, 1850

^{i c g b} North America

• Pytho Latreille, 1796

^{i c g b} Holarctic

• Sphalma Horn, 1872

^{i c g b} Western North America

• Trimitomerus Horn, 1888

^{i c g b} North AmericaData sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

• Gustafsson, B. Catalogus Coleopterorum Sueciae (2004), Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm.

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. 978-0849309540.
• Bouchard . P.. 2011. Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta). ZooKeys. 88: 1–972. 10.3897/zookeys.88.807. free . 21594053 . 88 . 3088472. 2011ZooK...88....1B.
• Book: Crotch . G.R.. 1873. Check list of the Coleoptera of America, north of Mexico. Naturalists' Agency. 10.5962/bhl.title.38811. 0665070772. free.
• Book: Kubisz . Daniel. Iwan . Dariusz. Tykarski . Piotr. 2014. Tenebrionoidea: Tetratomidae, Melandryidae, Ripiphoridae, Prostomidae, Oedemeridae, Mycteridae, Pythidae, Aderidae, Scraptiidae, Critical checklist, distribution in Poland and meta-analysis. University of Warsaw - Faculty of Biology & Natura optima dux Foundation. 978-83-935107-9-5.
• Book: Lawrence . J.F.. Newton . A.F. Jr.. Pakaluk . James. Slipinski . Stanislaw Adam. 1995. Families and subfamilies of Coleoptera (with selected genera, notes, references and data on family-group names). Biology, Phylogeny, and Classification of Coleoptera: Papers Celebrating the 80th Birthday of Roy A. Crowson. Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN. 2. 779–1006. 83-85192-34-4.
• Book: LeConte . J.L.. 1861. Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Smithsonian Institution. 3. 136. 0665100558. 10.5962/bhl.title.38459. free.
• Misof . B.. Liu . S.. Meusemann . K.. Peters . R.S.. Donath . A.. 4. 2014. Phylogenomics resolves the timing and pattern of insect evolution. Science. 346. 6210. 763–7. 10.1126/science.1257570 . 25378627. 2014Sci...346..763M. 36008925.
• Book: Pollock . Darren A.. Arnett . Ross H. Jr.. Thomas . Michael C.. Skelley . Paul E.. Frank . J.H.. 2002. Family 114. Pythidae Solier 1834. American Beetles vol. 2, Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 537–539. 0-8493-0954-9.
• Book: White. Richard E.. 1998. 1983. A Field Guide to the Beetles of North America (Peterson Field Guides). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 0395910897. registration.

External links

• Pythidae at Fauna Europaea

Notes and References

1. Pollock, Darren A.. "11.23. Pythidae Solier, 1834". 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. 708-715.