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Genus Ptilinus - Death-watch Beetle

Ptilinus Ptilinus? - Ptilinus Ptilinus sp - Ptilinus Ptilinus sp - Ptilinus What is this? - Ptilinus Ptilinus? - Ptilinus - female Ptinidae - Ptilinus ruficornis - Death-watch beetle? - Ptilinus ruficornis Ptilinus lobatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Bostrichoidea
Family Ptinidae (Death-watch and Spider Beetles)
Subfamily Ptilininae
Genus Ptilinus (Death-watch Beetle)
Explanation of Names
Ptilinus O.F. Müller 1764
The common name derives from their heads bobbing up and down as they channel through dead wood; this creates a regular tapping. This would emanate through wooden walls of homes and was perceived as ominous.(1)
Numbers
9 spp. in our area(2), 5 in Europe...
Size
3-6 mm
Identification
protibiae produced into a triangular spine, antennae pectinate in males
Range
Holarctic; spp. described from the southern hemisphere belong to related genera
Food
Our spp. in hardwood(2)
Various dead plant matter modified for human use, e.g. tobacco, lumber, dried herbs(1)
They have bacteria and fungus in their guts that allow them to eat food that is poor in nutrients and rather unpalatable, including red hot peppers and nicotine-laden cigars.(1)
Works Cited
1.Hidden Company that Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips
James B. Nardi. 2023. Princeton University Press.
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.