Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Giving Tuesday

Do you use BugGuide? Please consider a monetary gift on this Giving Tuesday.

Donate Now

Your donation to BugGuide is tax-deductible.



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
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Subfamily Clerinae

Enoclerus nigripes Checkered Beetle - Enoclerus nigripes Clerid - Placopterus thoracicus 9036887 Clerid - Trichodes ornatus Trichodes ornatus Enoclerus lunatus ? - Enoclerus lunatus 5714 Trichodes nuttalli_ dorsal ? - Trichodes nuttalli Trichodes ornatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Cleroidea
Family Cleridae (Checkered Beetles)
Subfamily Clerinae
Numbers
the largest subfamily in the Cleridae, with 69 spp. in 7 genera in our area(1) and >1600 described (+many undescribed) spp. in >110 genera worldwide(2)
Size
worldwide, 2.8–44.0 mm(2)
Range
worldwide, most abundant in the tropics(2)
Habitat
Most adults hunt on the outside bark while the larvae feed in the tunnels of inner bark(2)
Food
most prey on wood infesting insects, esp. bark beetles; Trichodes spp. feed on pollen and other anthophilic insects; Aulicus terrestris, on lepidopterous larvae and egg masses of lubber grasshoppers(2)
Life Cycle
3-5 larval instars, 1-4 generations per year; in cold climes, overwintering may take place as mature larvae, pupae, or adults(2)
Remarks
Most adults are diurnal(2)
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.Classification, natural history, phylogeny, and subfamily composition of the Cleridae and generic content of the subfamilies
Opitz W. 2010. Entomologica Basiliensia et Collections Frey 32: 31–128.