Salpingidae

Pytho kolwensis, copyright Deryni.

Belongs within: Tenebrionoidea.

The Salpingidae are a group of elongate, more or less flattened beetles that are usually found among vegetation, and whose larvae feed on bark or phloem under bark or in dead twigs (Lawrence & Britton 1991). Molecular phylogenetic analysis (McKenna et al. 2015) suggests that the Salpingidae are paraphyletic to the similar family Pythidae, distinguished by its projecting fore coxae and laterally open mid coxae (vs transverse or globular fore coxae and closed mid coxae in Salpingidae). Both Salpingidae and Pythidae are divided between multiple subfamilies, some of which have historically been treated as distinct families.

Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Elongate, slightly to strongly flattened, usually subglabrous or clothed with scattered setae. Head prognathous, sometimes produced and rostrate, never abruptly narrowed behind eyes; antenna 10- or 11-segmented, filiform, moniliform or with three-segmented club; lateral pronotal carinae complete, incomplete or occasionally absent, simple, undulate or dentate; fore coxae transverse or globular, trochantin concealed, fore coxal cavities externally open or closed, internally closed; mid coxal cavities contiguous or separated, mid coxal cavities laterally closed; tarsi almost always simple, tarsal formula 5-5-4 or (rarely) 4-4-4; abdomen with five ventrites, no or two ventrites connate. Larvae elongate, parallel-sided, slightly to strongly flattened, moderately to lightly pigmented except for head and abdominal apex. Epicranial stem absent; frontal arms with relatively narrow angle between them, usually with paired endocarinae beneath them; hypostomal rods moderately to very long and subparallel; S9 with 1 to several teeth on each side at base (sometimes forming basal row interrupted at middle); armature on T9 usually complex, with accessory processes on urogomphi and/or additional spines or processes in front of or between them.

Salpingidae [Elacatidae, Inopeplidae, Othniidae, Tretothoracidae]
    |  i. s.: Sphaeriesthes mutilatus LB91
    |         Eurystethus RD77
    |         Rhinosimus RD77
    |           |--R. planirostris [=Anthribus planirostris] L02
    |           `--R. roboris [=Bruchus (Rhinosimus) roboris] G20
    |--Aglenus [Agleninae] LB91
    |    `--A. brunneus LB91
    |--Inopeplus [Inopeplinae] LB91
    |    `--I. dimidiatus LB91
    |--Othniinae LB91
    |    |--Elacatis delusa MW15, LB91
    |    `--Othnius delusa B70
    |--Aegialitinae B14
    |    |--Aegialites canadensis Zerche 2004 B14
    |    `--Antarcticodomus B14
    |--Dacoderinae [Dacoderidae] B14
    |    |--Tretothorax cleistostoma Lea 1910 B14
    |    |--Dacoderus B14
    |    `--Myrmecoderus B14
    `--+--Salpinginae LB91
       |    |  i. s.: Neosalpingus hybridus LB91
       |    |         Orphanotrophium LB91
       |    |         Lissodema hybridum LB91, Erichs. 1842 M86
       |    |         Platysalpingus LB91
       |    |--Notosalpingus MW15
       |    `--+--Euryplatus MW15
       |       `--Salpingus MW15
       `--Pythidae MW15
            |  i. s.: Ischyomius MW15
            |         Lecontia Champion 1889 B51
            |--Anaplopus [Anaplopinae] LB91
            |    `--A. tuberculatus LB91
            `--Pythinae LB91
                 |--Synercticus LB91
                 |    |--S. heteromerus Newm. 1842 M86
                 |    `--S. piceus (Pascoe 1862) [=Aposyla picea] M86
                 `--Pytho B14
                      |--P. caeruleus L02
                      |--P. kolwensis Sahlberg 1833 B14
                      |--P. nivalis B14
                      `--P. strictus B14

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B51] Barber, H. S. 1951. North American fireflies of the genus Photuris. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (1): i–vi, 1–36.

[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.

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

[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).

[M86] 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.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

Last updated: 12 November 2020.