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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Elateriformia » Elateroidea » Net-winged Beetles (Lycidae)

Family Lycidae - Net-winged Beetles

Classification · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

Net Winged beetle? - Greenarus thoracicus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)

Superfamily Elateroidea

Family Lycidae (Net-winged Beetles)

Pronunciation

LY-kid-ee

Explanation of Names

Lycidae LaPorte 1836

see Lycus

Numbers

ca. 80 spp. in ~20 genera in our area(1) · ~4600 spp. in 160 genera total(2)

Overview of our faunaTaxa not yet in the guide are marked (*)

Family LYCIDAE

Subfamily Erotinae Dictyoptera · Eropterus · Eros · Erotides · Greenarus · Lopheros · Punicealis

Subfamily Calochrominae Calochromus · *Caloptognatha · Lucaina · Lygistopterus

Subfamily Platerodinae *Falsocalleros · Plateros

Subfamily Lycinae

Tribe Lycini Lyconotus · Lycus

Tribe Calopterini Caenia · Calopteron · Leptoceletes

Identification

Larvae have the head widened anteriorly, somewhat depressed; antennae short and robust, prominent, 2-segmented; and the abdomen largely 9-segmented. If a 10th segment is present, it is very small, hardly sclerotized, and not dorsally visible.

Range

worldwide and throughout NA; much more diverse in warmer climes(1)

Habitat

for many groups, typically woodlands

Food

Adults eat nectar and honeydew. Larvae: Despite anecdotal reports of carnivory, most, if not all, feed on myxomycetes or metabolic products of fungi(1)

Life Cycle

Larvae live in decaying tree trunks and branches.(3)

Remarks

Many spp. aggregate in one of their life stages(1)

Many are unpalatable to predators due to ingesting toxic chemicals. They present aposematic colors that advertise their toxicity.(Chemoecology. Defensive Chemistry of Lycid Beetles and of Mimetic Cerambycid Beetles that Feed on Them)

Larvae of (Lampyridae) have the head elongate and subcylindrical, retractable antennae 3-segmented, and 10 abdominal segments present, the 10th concealed ventrally, the preceding segments thus often curved downward.

When disturbed, the elytral ridges are easily ruptured and will ooze hemolymph laced with odorous pyrazines. This smell warns predators of their bad taste.(4)

See Also

Fireflies (Lampyridae)

Internet References

EoL

family overviews: adults(5) | larvae(6)

Chemoecology. Eisner, T. et al. Defensive Chemistry of Lycid Beetles and of Mimetic Cerambycid Beetles that Feed on Them.

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.	Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.

4.	The Lives of Beetles: A Natural History of Coleoptera Arthur V. Evans. 2023. Princeton University Press.

5.	Lawrence J.F., et al. (2000-2005) Elateriformia (Coleoptera): descriptions, illustrations, identification...

6.	Lawrence J.F., et al. (1995-2005) Elateriformia (Coleoptera) larvae: descriptions, illustrations, identification...

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Phillip Harpootlian, v belov, KenW, Marci Hess, Arturo Santos
Last updated 24 September, 2023 - 10:35am

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