Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Family Bostrichidae - Horned Powder-post Beetles

Beetle - Prostephanus punctatus Lichenophanes bicornis even cooler beetle - Xylobiops basilaris Beetle - Xylobiops basilaris Stephanopachys Spiked edged thorax... - Stephanopachys substriatus Bostrichini - Prostephanus punctatus Arizona Beetle for ID - Apatides fortis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Bostrichoidea
Family Bostrichidae (Horned Powder-post Beetles)
Other Common Names
False Powderpost Beetles, Branch-and-Twig Borers, Auger Beetles
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Includes Lyctidae (Powderpost Beetles) as subfamily
Explanation of Names
Bostrichidae Latreille 1802
Numbers
~70 spp. in 25 genera in our area (+ a few exotic spp. established and dozens intercepted)(1); >570 spp. in 90 genera worldwide, arranged into 7 subfamilies(2)(3)
Overview of our faunaFamily Bostrichidae
Subfamily Bostrichinae
Subfamily Psoinae Psoa
Subfamily Lyctinae
Size
typically 2-24 mm, one species to 52 mm
Identification
typically small, stout, cylindrical (a few species flattened)
usually black or dark brown
head bent downward, concealed from above by pronotum (not in subfamily Lyctinae, Powderpost Beetles)
pronotum usually with rasp-like teeth in front
antennae inserted in front of eyes
antennae 10-segmented, last 3‒4 forming a club
tarsal formula 5-5-5, but first segment may be reduced, almost lacking; fifth segment long, with simple claws
Life Cycle
Most species attack wood, either living, or in some cases, dead, including seasoned lumber. A few are associated with woody fungi or stored grain.
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.World catalogue of Bostrichidae (Coleoptera)
Borowski J., Węgrzynowicz P. 2007. Mantis, Olsztyn, 247 pp.
3.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.