Oedemeridae

Male false oil beetle Oedemera nobilis, copyright Entomart.

Belongs within: Tenebrionoidea.

The Oedemeridae are a group of elongate, soft-bodied beetles whose larvae feed on dead wood. Adults may feed on pollen or be short-lived and not feed at all. Members of this family are commonly known as false blister beetles due to their resemblance to the blister beetles of the Meloidae, which they also resemble in producing irritant chemicals for defense that may cause blisters on the skin of humans (Bouchard 2014).

Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Elongate, parallel-sided, soft-bodied, often bicoloured and clothed with short, decumbent hairs. Head usually somewhat produced anteriorly; antennal insertions located dorsally in front of eyes, antenna 11-segmented, filiform, serrate or incrassate; apical segment of maxillary palp more or less expanded and truncate (excavate in some males); lateral pronotal carinae absent; fore coxae projecting, trochantins exposed, fore coxal cavities externally open, internally closed; mesocoxal cavities contiguous, laterally open; tarsal formula 5-5-4, penultimate tarsal segment lobed beneath; abdomen with five or six ventrites, two ventrites connate. Larvae elongate, subcylindrical, very lightly sclerotised, with large, often slightly asymmetrical head and asperity-bearing ampullae on T1–T2 or T1–T3 and S2–S4 or S3–S4. Antennae well developed; epicranial stem long, frontal arms V-shaped; mandibles large and asymmetrical, with transversely ridged molae; ligula well developed, with prehypopharyngeal lobe between it and hypopharynx.

Oedemeridae [Oedemerinae]
    |--Asclerini LB91
    |    |--Asclera coarctata C01
    |    `--Pseudolychus LB91
    |         |--P. apicalis Macleay 1872 Mas86
    |         |--P. atratus Guér. 1833 Mas86
    |         |--P. cinctus Guér. 1833 Mas86
    |         |--P. haemopterus Guér. 1833 Mas86
    |         |--P. haemorrhoidalis L09
    |         |--P. marginata Guér. 1833 Mas86
    |         `--P. wallacei Lea 1909 L09
    |--Nacerdini [Nacerdinae] B14
    |    |--Anogcodes B14
    |    |--Opsimea B14
    |    |--Agasma semicrudum LB91
    |    |--Ditylus LB91
    |    `--Nacerdes B14
    |         |  i. s.: N. rufipes Macleay 1886 Mac86
    |         `--N. (Nacerdes) B14
    |              |--N. (N.) brancuccii B14
    |              |--N. (N.) melanura (Linnaeus 1758) B14
    |              `--N. (N.) semirufa B14
    `--Oedemera [Oedemerini] B14
         |--O. australis [incl. O. rubricollis] B35
         |--O. bivittata MacLeay in Boisduval 1835 B35
         |--O. brevicornis Latreille in Boisduval 1835 B35
         |--O. croceicollis [incl. O. croceicollis var. sarmatica] C01
         |--O. flavescens C01
         |--O. forsteri B35
         |--O. livida [=Dryops livida] B35
         |--O. luctuosa Dejean in Boisduval 1835 B35
         |--O. lurida C01
         |--O. nobilis V09
         |--O. podagrariae (Linnaeus 1767) B14 [=Necydalis podagrariae L02]
         |    |--O. p. podagrariae B14
         |    |--O. p. acutipalpis B14
         |    `--O. p. ventralis B14
         |--O. rostrata [=Leptura rostrata] L02
         |--O. ruficollis [=Necydalis ruficollis] L02
         |--O. substriata B35
         |--O. tibialis Lucas 1846 E12
         |--O. virescens C01
         |--O. viridana Lucas 1846 E12
         `--O. viridissima [=Necydalis viridissima] L02

Oedemeridae incertae sedis:
  Selenopalpus Mas86
    |--S. cyaneus T27
    |--S. fuscus Macleay 1872 Mas86
    `--S. mastersi Macleay 1872 Mas86
  Ananca G89
    |--A. australis Boisd. 1835 [incl. A. rubricollis] Mas86
    |--A. bivittata Mas86
    |--A. brevicornis Mas86
    |--A. luctuosa Mas86
    |--A. nigronotata Bohem. 1858 Mas86
    |--A. puncta Macleay 1827 [incl. A. palliata, A. suturalis] Mas86
    |--A. ruficollis Macleay 1872 Mas86
    |--A. spurcaticollis Fairm. 1885 G89
    `--A. vitticollis Macleay 1872 Mas86
  Colobostomus griseovestitus Fairm. 1885 G89
  Chrysanthia viridis C01
  Ischnomera mansueta Newm. 1851 Mas86
  Calopus serraticornis MW15, L02
  Dohrnia miranda Newm. 1851 Mas86
  Copidita mira B70
  Sessinia decolor AT01
  Sisenes championi AT01
  Oxacis AT01
    |--O. taeniata AT01
    `--O. xerensis AT01

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AT01] Arnett, R. H., Jr & M. C. Thomas (eds) 2001. American Beetles vol. 1. Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia. CRC Press: Boca Raton.

[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.

[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.

[C01] Csiki, E. 1901. Bogarak [Coleopteren]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 75–120. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[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.

[G89] Gestro, R. 1889. Viaggio ab Assab nel Mar Rosso dei signori G. Doria ed O. Beccari con il R. Avviso «Esploratore» dal 16 Novembre 1879 al 26 Febbraio 1880.—IV. Coleotteri. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2^a, 7: 5–72.

[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).

[L09] Lea, A. M. 1909. Revision of the Australian and Tasmanian Malacodermidae. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1909 (1): 45–251, pls 2–6.

[Mac86] Macleay, W. 1886. The insects of the Fly River, New Guinea, "Coleoptera". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (1): 136–157.

[Mas86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 259–380.

[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.

[T27] Thomson, G. M. 1927. The pollination of New Zealand flowers by birds and insects. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 106–125.

[V09] Verdcourt, B. (ed.) 2009. Additions to the wild fauna and flora of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. XXVI. Miscellaneous records. Kew Bulletin 64 (1): 183–194.

Last updated: 12 November 2020.