Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Family Laemophloeidae - Lined Flat Bark Beetles

Laemophloeus testaceus - Placonotus zimmermanni Lined Flat Bark Beetle - Charaphloeus unnamed Lathropus pubescens Casey - Lathropus pubescens Small, flat, dark and reddish beetle - Laemophloeus fervidus Laemophloeus - Laemophloeus biguttatus Flat bark beetle - Cryptolestes Laemophloeidae, found under oak bark - Cryptolestes LBB 7 - Leptophloeus angustulus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cucujoidea
No Taxon (Cucujid series)
Family Laemophloeidae (Lined Flat Bark Beetles)
Explanation of Names
Laemophloeidae Ganglbauer 1899
Numbers
52 spp. in 13 genera in our area, ~430 spp. in 37 genera worldwide(1)(2)
Overview of our fauna:
Family LAEMOPHLOEIDAE
Size
1‒5 mm (mostly 1.5‒3 mm)(1)
Identification
body usually flattened, head and pronotum with sublateral lines, elytral cells, long antennae(1)
most US spp. illustrated in(3)
Range
worldwide; most diverse in tropics(1)
Habitat
forested areas (under bark); stored grain(1)
Food
apparently, mostly fungus; some predacious on bark beetles; stored grain (several spp are important pests)(1)
Remarks
The larvae of some Cryptolestes are unique among insects in having paired prosternal silk glands with which the spin a cocoon within which they pupate(1)
Print References
(4)
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.Order Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification...
Ślipiński S.A., Leschen R.A.B., Lawrence J.F. 2011. Zootaxa 3148: 203–208.
3.Thomas M.C. (2003) Laemophloeidae of Florida
4.The flat bark beetles of Florida (Coleoptera: Silvanidae, Passandridae, Laemophloeidae)
Thomas M.C. 1993. Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas 15: viii+93 pp.