Other Common Names
Includes Death-watch, Drugstore, Tobacco (=Cigarette), and Spider Beetles; Vrillettes (French)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Ptinidae (was used for the whole group, and for the group now considered subfamily)
Numbers
402 species in 62 genera in North America (
Nearctica.com)
90 species in 37 genera in Canada & Alaska, divided into
Death-watch Beetles - PDF doc and
Spider Beetles - PDF doc (Canadian National Collection)
Size
small; 1 to 9 mm but usually less than 5 mm
Identification
A very polymorphic group; no easy characters are found that apply to all.
Range
representatives throughout North America and the world
Food
Predominantly wood-borers as larvae; presumably this is the primal mode of life within the family. Adults and larvae of several species feed on a variety of dry plant (rarely: animal) materials, including dry dung, plant stems, dry fungi; some are considered pests of stored products (grain, cereals, tobacco), furniture, and museum specimens.
Remarks
A number of (older?) publications consider Spider Beetles a separate family (Ptinidae); the Internet References below place them within Anobiidae.
Print References
Fall, H.C.(1905): Revision of the Ptinidae of boreal America. Trans.Am.Entomol.Soc.31: 97-297.
American Beetles, Vol. 2, Chapter 70
(1)Internet References
taxonomy info (Biodiversity Explorer, South Africa)
taxonomy info (Govt. of California)
taxonomy info (Tree of Life)
taxonomy info (North Carolina State U.)
