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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Archostemata » Telephone-pole Beetles (Micromalthidae)

Family Micromalthidae - Telephone-pole Beetles

Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis - female Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis Micromalthus debilis Micromathus debilis - Micromalthus debilis Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis - male Micromalthus debilis - Micromalthus debilis - male Woohoo! - Micromalthus debilis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Archostemata
Family Micromalthidae (Telephone-pole Beetles)
Explanation of Names
Micromalthidae Barber 1913
Numbers
family contains one species (1)
Size
1.5-2.5 mm
Identification
Very small soft-bodied beetles, superficially similar to cantharids
Range
native to the eastern United States (and Belize?), spread globally by commerce (1)
Habitat
Larvae in decaying wood (1)
Preference is for logs in the oak family that are just at the right decaying stage.(2)
Life Cycle
Larvae have a very complicated hypermetamorphic development (1)
Adults beetles do not reproduce only larvae do. Female larvae give birth to live larvae that are also female but differ in form and activity. When the females molt, they become sedentary.(3)
Adults males are rare and arise under environmental stress that makes the sedentary female molt to a 3rd larval form. Then this female gives birth to a male that feeds on the mother before pupating and emerging as an adult male.(3)
Remarks
Uncommon
Works Cited
1.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). 2000. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
2.The World Beneath our Feet: A Guide to Life in the Soil
James B. Nardi. 2003. Oxford University Press.
3.Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips
James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.
Contributed by Phillip Harpootlian on 23 January, 2008 - 9:20am
Additional contributions by Bbarnd, Mike Quinn, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 17 November, 2023 - 2:49pm

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