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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Cucujiformia » Tenebrionoidea » Darkling Beetles (Tenebrionidae) » Diaperinae » Crypticini » Poecilocrypticus » Poecilocrypticus formicophilus

Species Poecilocrypticus formicophilus

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Habitat · Season · Life Cycle · Print References · Works Cited

Poecilocrypticus formicophilus Gebien - Poecilocrypticus formicophilus

Mycetophagid? - Poecilocrypticus formicophilus

Tiny beetle - Poecilocrypticus formicophilus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga

No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)

Superfamily Tenebrionoidea

Family Tenebrionidae (Darkling Beetles)

Subfamily Diaperinae

Tribe Crypticini

Genus Poecilocrypticus

Species formicophilus (Poecilocrypticus formicophilus)

Other Common Names

Adventive Ant-loving Teneb

Explanation of Names

Poecilocrypticus formicophilus Gebien 1928

formicophilus - 'ant loving,' though it's not clear how accurate a moniker this is. (MacGown 2005)

Size

2 mm

Range

se US (TX-FL-SC-AR), NV - Map (1)(Steiner 1982)(2), most records TX-OK, FL

Native to South America, adventive in se. US (first collected 1978)

Habitat

Found in nests of at least 5 spp. of ants. Also collected via Berlese soil samples, pitfall traps and at blacklights (MacGown 2005)

Season

mostly: Apr-Sep (2)

Life Cycle

Not clear if beetle is an occasional nest scavenger or a more specialized myrmecophile. The biology and immature stages remain largely unknown. (MacGown 2005)

Print References

MacGown, J.A. 2005. A collection of Poecilocrypticus formicophilus Gebien (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from a mound of the imported fire ant hybrid, Solenopsis invicta X richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Mississippi, USA. Entomological News 116: 367-368 (Full text)

Steiner, W.E., Jr. 1982. Poecilocrypticus formicophilus Gebien, a South American beetle established in the U.S. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 84: 232-239 (Full text)

Works Cited

1.	The Darkling Beetles of Florida and Eastern United States

2.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

Contributed by Richard Lareau on 30 December, 2006 - 3:26pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 2 April, 2024 - 3:30pm

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