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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Coccinelloidea » Coccinellid group » Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles (Latridiidae)

Family Latridiidae - Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · See Also · Works Cited

Pronotum of Latridius minutus - Latridius minutus

Minute red-Brown Scavenger Beetle with dark-brown elytra. - Corticarina

small brown beetle – genus Corticaria? - Melanophthalma

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Coccinelloidea

No Taxon (Coccinellid group)

Family Latridiidae (Minute Brown Scavenger Beetles)

Other Common Names

Mold and Plaster Beetles (for household and stored product pest taxa)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Lathridiidae, Corticariidae

Akalyptoischion has been recently moved to the family of its own(1)

Explanation of Names

Latridiidae Erichson 1842

Numbers

over 140 spp. in 16 genera in our area, ~1000 spp. in ~30 genera worldwide(2)(3)(4)(5)

Overview of our fauna

Family Latridiidae

Subfamily Latridiinae Adistemia · Dienerella · Cartodere · Enicmus · Eufallia · Latridius · Metophthalmus · Revelieria · Stephostethus · Thes

Subfamily Corticariinae Corticaria · Corticarina · Cortinicara · Melanophthalma · Fuchsina · Migneauxia

Size

0.8-3.0 mm

Identification

Tarsal formula 3-3-3, size 3 mm or less, and elongate-oval shape serve to separate this family(3)

Two subfamilies of rather different appearance:

Latridiinae: Body glabrous, or (rarely) with erect setae. Head, pronotum and elytra often with heavy sculpture dorsally (longitudinal grooves, ridges). Pronotal side margin usually smooth

Corticariinae: Body finely pubescent, hairs in most cases recumbent. Head, pronotum and elytra never with heavy sculpture dorsally, except for a subbasal circular pit or shallow transversal groove. Pronotal side margin often serrate

Range

worldwide; most diverse in temperate climates, in our area, most diverse in the west(3); several spp. (associated with stored products) are cosmopolitan(6)

Habitat

rotting vegetable matter; some species live in houses on damp wallpaper, moldy bread, etc. or otherwise associated with stored products.

Latridiinae are generally associated with leaf litter in nature(3)

Corticariinae can be collected by sweeping dead, low lying vegetation.

Season

Most prevalent during wetter seasons(3)

Food

fungal tissues (slime molds, molds, mildew, spores of "higher" fungi)

Remarks

Many taxonomic changes over the last two decades -- some quite confusing, with familiar names of genera often used in a different sense then before:

former Lathridius is now split into Cartodere, Stephostethus, Thes

several former Enicmus spp. are now Lathridius

former Cartodere are now Dienerella

See Also

Works Cited

1.	Phylogenetic analysis of the minute brown scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Latridiidae), and recognition of a new beetle family... Lord N.P., Hartley C.S., Lawrence J.F., McHugh J.V., Whiting M.F., Miller K.B. 2010. Systematic Entomology 35: 753-763.

2.	Rücker W.H. (1998-2014) Latridiidae & Merophysiinae

3.	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.

4.	Latridiidae (Coleoptera) of Atlantic Canada: New records, keys to identification, new synonyms, distribution, and zoogeography Majka C.G., Langor D., Rücker W.H. 2009. The Canadian Entomologist 141: 317‒370.

5.	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.

6.	Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide Bousquet Y. 1990. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1837.

Contributed by Jim McClarin on 19 September, 2005 - 7:49pm
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche, v belov, roar
Last updated 9 July, 2022 - 2:13pm

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