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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Carpet, Powder-post and Death-watch Beetles (Bostrichoidea) » Death-watch and Spider Beetles (Ptinidae) » Spider Beetles (Ptininae)

Subfamily Ptininae - Spider Beetles

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

In the firewood stack - Ptinus fur - female

Hairy Spider Beetle - Ptinus fur - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Long-horned, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Bostrichoidea (Carpet, Powder-post and Death-watch Beetles)

Family Ptinidae (Death-watch and Spider Beetles)

Subfamily Ptininae (Spider Beetles)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

many workers treat Gibbium and Mezium in a separate subfamily, Gibbiinae(1)

Explanation of Names

Ptininae Latreille 1802

Numbers

~70 spp. in 12 genera in our area(2)(3), 15 in Canada(4) (ca. 600 spp. worldwide)

Size

1.5–4.5 mm(5)

Identification

Body constricted between prothorax and elytra, pronotum often with humps, elytra often with shoulders reduced (flightless species). Head not retracted below pronotum, antennae free, filiform, their bases proximate.

illustrated keys & info on species that occur indoors in(4)(3)

Range

worldwide and across NA; many spp. associated with stored products easily spread with commerce and have cosmopolitan distribution

Habitat

mammal/bird/bee nests, dry carrion, tree holes; several species occur in homes, granaries, mills, warehouses(4)

Food

Dry plant and animal matter (a few are wood-borers as larvae)

See Also

Print References

Arango, R.A. and D.K. Young. 2012. Death-watch and spider beetles of Wisconsin—Coleoptera: Ptinidae. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-209. Madison, WI: USDA, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. (6)

Philips T.K. (2000) Phylogenetic analysis of the New World Ptininae (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea). Systematic Entomology 25: 235-262.

Internet References

(7)

Works Cited

1.	de Jong Y.S.D.M. (ed.) (2011) Fauna Europaea version 2.4

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.	An illustrated and descriptive catalogue of the Ptinidae of North Amerika. Papp, C.S. 1962. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 9(5): 367-423.

4.	Beetles associated with stored products in Canada: An identification guide Bousquet Y. 1990. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Publication 1837.

5.	Handbook of urban insects and arachnids: A handbook of urban entomology Robinson W.H. 2005. Cambridge University Press.

6.	Death-watch and spider beetles of Wisconsin—Coleoptera: Ptinidae Arango, R.A. and D.K. Young. 2012. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-209. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory.

7.	Eifler M. www.ptinidae.de

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 15 January, 2005 - 1:30am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Boris Bueche, v belov
Last updated 13 October, 2019 - 7:55am

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