Eucnemidae

Flightless eucnemids, photographed by S. E. Thorpe.

Belongs within: Elateroidea.

The Eucnemidae, false click beetles, are a group of beetles resembling the click beetles of the Elateridae in possessing a ventral click process between the prothorax and mesothorax but differing in having all five abdominal ventrites connate. Larvae are found in dead wood but their exact habits are uncertain (Lawrence & Britton 1991).

Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Elongate, cylindrical to slightly flattened, compact, usually finely pubescent and with acute posterior angles on pronotum; labrum concealed beneath clypeus; antennae eleven-segmented, sometimes received in grooves just beneath lateral pronotal carinae or ventrally crossing or bordering notosternal suture; fore coxae globular, trochantins concealed, fore coxal cavities externally and internally open; clicking device present involving prosternal process and mesosternal cavity; mid coxal cavities narrowly separated, laterally open; tarsi pentamerous, usually simple, rarely bearing membranous appendages on segments 2–4; abdomen with five ventrites, all connate. Larvae usually flattened, with no legs and reduced head with minute antennae and non-opposable or immovable mandibles.

Eucnemidae [Melasidae]
    |--Idiotarsus KB11
    `--+--+--Nematodes KB11
       |  `--Fornax additus Bon. 1872 LB91, Mas86
       `--+--Arrhipis KB11
          `--+--Protofarsus KB11
             `--Entomophthalmus americanus KB11

Eucnemidae incertae sedis:
  Neocharis E02
  Dromoeolus Mas86
    |--D. australasiae Bonv. 1871 Mas86
    |--D. dignoscendus Bonv. 1871 Mas86
    `--D. lugubris Bonv. 1871 Mas86
  Trigonopleurus rugolosus Bonv. 1875 Mas86
  Phyllocerus LB91
  Hemiopsida mastersi Macleay 1872 LB91, Mas86
  Euryptychus porosus LB91
  Palaeoxenus [Palaeoxeninae] B14
    `--P. dorhni (Horn 1878) B14
  Galbites [Eucneminae, Galbitini] B14
    |--G. albiventris B14
    |--G. auricolor (Bonvouloir 1875) B14
    |--G. australiae B14
    |--G. bicolor B14
    |--G. chrysocoma B14
    |--G. modiglianii B14
    |--G. sericata B14
    `--G. tigrina B14
  Galba Mac86
    |--G. auricolor Mac86
    |--G. marmorata [=Pterotarsus marmoratus] B35
    `--G. wallacei Perroud 1864 Mac86
  Cafolus moestus Mac86
  Arisus depressus Bonv. 1871 Mas86
  Anabolus mirus Bonv. 1871 Mas86
  Phoenocerus subclavatus Bonv. 1871 Mas86
  Galbodema Mas86
    |--G. mannerheimi Mas86
    `--G. ruficeps Bonv. 1872 Mas86
  Orodotes jansoni Bonv. 1875 Mas86
  Lycaon Mas86
    |--L. expulsus Bonv. 1875 Mas86
    |--L. kraatzi Bonv. 1875 Mas86
    |--L. nanus Bonv. 1875 Mas86
    |--L. nigricans Bonv. 1875 Mas86
    `--L. novus Bonv. 1875 Mas86
  Melasis RD77
    |--M. buprestoides RD77
    `--M. flabellicornis L02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[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).

[E02] Emberson, R. M. 2002. The beetle (Coleoptera) fauna of the Chatham Islands: additions and corrections. New Zealand Entomologist 25: 69–77.

[KB11] Kundrata, R., & L. Bocak. 2011. The phylogeny and limits of Elateridae (Insecta, Coleoptera): is there a common tendency of click beetles to soft-bodiedness and neoteny? Zoologica Scripta 40: 364–378.

[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).

[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.

[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: 10 December 2020.