Erotylinae

Pleasing fungus beetle Megalodacne heros, photographed by Stephen Cresswell.

Belongs within: Cucujoidea.

The Erotylinae are a clade of beetles associated with fungi, usually macroscopic Basidiomycetes (Leschen 2003). Many species are brightly coloured and produce distasteful defensive chemicals from pores and joints on the body (Bouchard 2014). The antennal insertions are visible from above in members of tribes Dacnini, Megalodacnini and Tritomini but concealed in Encaustini and some Erotylini. Dacnini lack the mesoventral glandular ducts found in other tribes (Leschen 2003).

Characters (from Leschen 2003): Subapical serrations of mandible absent; lacidian usually with two lacinial spines; lateral pockets present on mentum; medial carina of mentum usually present; width of apical labial palpomere greater than or equal to length, palpomere often securiform; width of ligular membrane equal to prementum; transverse gular line usually present, usually as shallow or beadlike groove; antennal insertions usually hidden in dorsal view; supraocular line usually present to level beyond eye; transverse line absent on vertex of head; two stridulatory files present or absent on vertex of head; pronotal shape variable, not constricted at base; anterior angles of pronotum well developed; anterior margin of prosternum smooth; pronotal pits absent; glandular ducts usually present in lateral carina of pronotum, unitubulate; prosternal glandular ducts present or absent; procoxal cavity internally open, externally closed by prosternum and hypomeron; edge of hypomeron smooth; mesoventral glandular ducts usually present; mesepisternal fovea absent; mesometaventral articulation usually dicondylic; width of mesoventral process usually greater than or equal to mesocoxa; submesocoxal lines present or absent; metaventral pores present or absent; metepisternal ctenidium absent; abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 connate; abdominal cuticular glandular ducts present or absent at disk and margin; abdominal calli present or absent; metafurcal lamina usually present with well developed median stalk; spermatheca rounded or elongate; apical pit of spermatheca usually absent; acessory gland of spermatheca usually present; length of tarsomere 1 usually equal to tarsomere 2; tarsomere 4 usually reduced and hidden in ventral view; tarsal shelf of tarsomere 5 present; empodium usually with two setae; elytral punctation striate without scutellary striole; elytra usually narrowly explanate; radial cell present; wedge cell absent.

<==Erotylinae
    |  i. s.: Episcaphula LB91
    |           |--E. aulacochiloides Crotch 1876 G01
    |           |--E. hercules B70
    |           |--E. interrupta G01
    |           |--E. pictipennis C91
    |           `--E. picturata Gorham 1901 G01
    |         Microsternus LB91
    |         Cnecosa LB91
    |         Pselaphacus signatus MW15
    |--Dacnini [Dacnides] L03
    |    |--Cryptodacne L03
    |    |--Hoplepiscapha Lea 1922 L03
    |    |    `--H. longicornis L03
    |    |--Pycnogeusteria Gorham 1900 G00
    |    |    `--*P. kraatzi Gorham 1900 G00
    |    |--Lophocrotaphus Gorham 1900 G00
    |    |    `--*L. guineensis Gorham 1900 G00
    |    |--Amblyopus G00
    |    |    |--A. testaceus G00
    |    |    `--A. vittatus G00
    |    |--Zythonia Westwood 1874 G00
    |    |    |--Z. anthracina Gorham 1900 G00
    |    |    `--Z. fulva G00
    |    |--Dacne L03
    |    |    |--D. aequinoctialis G01
    |    |    |--D. capensis Crotch 1876 G01
    |    |    |--D. humeralis G20 [=Engis humeralis L02, Ips (Dacne) humeralis G20]
    |    |    `--D. quadrimaculata L03
    |    `--Amblyscelis G00
    |         |--*A. kelleni G01
    |         |--A. brunneus Gorham 1900 G00
    |         |--A. conradti Gorham 1900 G00
    |         |--A. haemorrhous (Gorham 1885) [=Amblyopus haemorrhous] G00
    |         |--A. natalensis (Crotch 1876) [=Amblyopus natalensis] G01
    |         |--A. nigrinus Gorham 1900 G01
    |         `--A. pallidus Gorham 1888 G00
    `--+--Tritomini L03
       |    |--Tritoma L03
       |    |    |--T. atriventris L03
       |    |    |--T. bipustulatum L02
       |    |    `--T. russicum (Linnaeus 1758) L02, L58 [=Silpha russica L02]
       |    `--Lybanodes L03
       |         |--L. bicolor L03
       |         |--L. castaneus L03
       |         |--L. lescheni L03
       |         |--L. rostratus L03
       |         |--L. sasquatch L03
       |         |--L. similis L03
       |         `--L. stigmatus L03
       `--+--Megalodacne [Megalodacnini] L03
          |    |--M. fasciatus L03
          |    `--M. heros L03
          `--+--Encaustini [Encaustinae] L03
             |    |--Aulacocheilus chevrolatii Lucas 1846 L03, E12
             |    |--Encaustes hercules LB91
             |    `--Micrencaustes LB91
             `--Erotylini L03
                  |--Brachysphaenus L03
                  |--Coccimorphus L03
                  |--Homoeotelus L03
                  |--Thallis L03
                  |    |--T. compta LB91
                  |    |--T. janthina R54
                  |    `--T. polita L03
                  `--Erotylus Fabricius 1775 L03
                       |--E. gibbosus L02
                       |--E. giganteus G20
                       |--E. histrionicus FS90
                       `--E. onagga Lacordaire 1842 B14

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature's gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).

[B70] Britton, E. B. 1970. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 495–621. Melbourne University Press.

[C91] CSIRO. 1991. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[FS90] Fleutiaux, E., & A. Sallé. 1890. Liste des coléoptères de la Guadeloupe et descriptions d’espèces nouvelles. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6^e série 9: 351–484.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[G00] Gorham, H. S. 1900. Descriptions of new genera and species of Coleoptera from South and West Africa, of the section Serricornia, and of the families Erotylidae, Endomychidae, and Languriidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 5: 71–94.

[G01] Gorham, H. S. 1901. Descriptions of genera and species of Coleoptera from South Africa (continued). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7, 7: 349–365.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[LB91] Lawrence, J. F., & E. B. Britton. 1991. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 543–683. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[L03] Leschen, R. A. B. 2003. Erotylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cucujoidea): phylogeny and review. Fauna of New Zealand 47: 1–108.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[MW15] McKenna, D. D., A. L. Wild, K. Kanda, C. L. Bellamy, R. G. Beutel, M. S. Caterino, C. W. Farnum, D. C. Hawks, M. A. Ivie, M. L. Jameson, R. A. B. Leschen, A. E. Marvaldi, J. V. McHugh, A. F. Newton, J. A. Robertson, M. K. Thayer, M. F. Whiting, J. F. Lawrence, A. Ślipiński, D. R. Maddison & B. D. Farrell. 2015. The beetle tree of life reveals that Coleoptera survived end-Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Systematic Entomology 40 (4): 835–880.

[R54] Riek, E. F. 1954. Australian wasps of the family Proctotrupidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea). Australian Journal of Zoology 3: 106–117.

Last updated: 9 April 2022.