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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
Beetle - Ptinus Ptinus texanus Pic - Ptinus texanus - male In the firewood stack - Ptinus fur - female Ptinus Ptinus - Ptinus villiger Spider beetle? - Ptinus Hairy Spider Beetle - Ptinus fur - female Ptinus villiger - Ptinus
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. et al. (2014) Fauna Europaea - all European animal species on the web. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e4034.
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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