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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Cucujoidea » Cucujid series » Shining Flower Beetles (Phalacridae)

Family Phalacridae - Shining Flower Beetles

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

Shining Flower Beetle - Acylomus pugetanus

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 Phalacridae (Shining Flower Beetles)

Other Common Names

Shining Mold Beetles

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

genera redefined/revised in(1)

Explanation of Names

Phalacridae Leach 1815

see Phalacrus

Numbers

122 spp. in 12 genera in our area, much more diverse towards the south(2), with just 8 spp. in Canada(3); >630 spp. in 34 genera worldwide(1)

Overview of our fauna adapted from(1)

Family Phalacridae

Stilbus-group Acylomus, Stilbus, Xanthocomus

Pseudolibrus-group Litostilbus

Phalacrus-group Phalacropsis, Phalacrus

Olibroporus-group Olibroporus

Ochrolitus-group Ochrolitus

Olibrus-group Olibrus

Litochropus-group Litochropus, Neolitochrus

Incertae sedis Apallodes

Size

0.9‒4.8 mm(1)

Identification

key to world genera in (1)

species identification usually requires dissection

Range

worldwide, incl. most of NA north to so.Canada; most diverse in the Old World tropics(1)

Food

where known, both adults and larvae in most cases feed on spores or hyphae of fungi [incl. ascomycetes, Claviceps (ergot), smut/rust fungi (Ustilaginales, Pucciniales)]; Olibrus larvae feed on fluid material within flower heads of Asteraceae, but are pollen feeders as adults (1)

See Also

Works Cited

1.	Genus-level revision of the family Phalacridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) Gimmel M. 2013. Zootaxa 3605: 1–147.

2.	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.

3.	The Phalacridae of Canada: new records, distribution, and bionomics with a particular focus on the Atlantic Canadian fauna Majka C.G., Gimmel M.L., Langor D. 2008. ZooKeys 2: 209‒220.

Contributed by Jim McClarin on 29 November, 2005 - 8:37pm
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, Tim Moyer, v belov
Last updated 27 April, 2025 - 2:26pm

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