Species Cryptolestes uncicornis

Cryptolestes uncicornis (Reitter 1876)

1.3‒1.8 mm (Thomas 1988)

variable species, but the major males easily recognized by the elongate and sinuate antennal scape which bears at its apex a hook-shaped process. (Thomas 1988)

TX to FL, south to Argentina and throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles. (Thomas 1988)

This is one of the most commonly collected and widespread species of Laemophloeinae in the New World, ranging from the Gulf of Mexico states of the United States south to Argentina and Paraguay and throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles. I have examined more than 700 specimens from Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in the United States (and throughout Latin America). (Thomas 1988)

Little is known about the biology of uncicornis. I have collected it under the bark of hardwood logs, especially Quercus spp., in Florida, and it is often in ultraviolet light traps throughout its extensive range. (Thomas 1988)

Also collected under the bark of Celtis in southmost Texas. (MQ, pers. obs.)

In some species of Cryptolestes the last larval instar spins a silken cocoon in which to pupate (Roberts & Rilett 1953). They are apparently unique among Coleoptera because the silk is produced from epidermal glands on the prosternum. (Thomas 1988)

Thomas, M.C. 1988. A revision of the New World species of Cryptolestes Ganglbauer (Coleoptera: Cucujidae: Laemophloeinae). Insecta Mundi 2: 43-65. Full PDF