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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Cucujoidea » Erotylid series » Cryptic Slime Mold Beetles (Sphindidae)

Family Sphindidae - Cryptic Slime Mold Beetles

Sphindid - Eurysphindus hirtus Beetle - Sphindus Unknown - Sphindus americanus Small, brown, hairy beetle with odd antennae - Sphindus americanus Slime mold beetle - Sphindus americanus Sphindus americanus? - Sphindus Sphindus crassulus? - Sphindus Odontosphindus denticollis
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 (Erotylid series)
Family Sphindidae (Cryptic Slime Mold Beetles)
Other Common Names
Dry-fungus Beetles
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Aspidiphoridae, Coniporidae
Explanation of Names
Sphindidae Jacquelin du Val 1860
Numbers
9 spp. in 4 genera of 2 subfamilies in our area, ~60 spp. in 9 genera worldwide(1)
Size
1.5-3.5 mm
Identification
Head partially visible from above. Convex, elongate to broadly oval. Scape and pedicel asymmetrically inflated, antennal club about as long as stem. Pronotum broader than head and as broad as elytra at base. Ventrite I is longest and most coarsely punctured.
Habitat
wherever slime molds are prevalent(1)
Food
both adult and larvae feed on sporocarps of myxomycetes (slime molds)(1)
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.
Contributed by Jim McClarin on 17 June, 2006 - 7:36am
Additional contributions by ceiseman, v belov
Last updated 5 January, 2015 - 12:01am

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