Lymexylidae
Ship-timber beetles | |
---|---|
Lymexylon navale | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Suborder: | Polyphaga |
Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
Superfamily: | Lymexyloidea |
Family: | Lymexylidae Fleming, 1821 |
Wikispecies has information related to: Ship-timber beetle |
The Lymexylidae, or ship-timber beetles, are a family of wood-boring beetles, and the sole member of the superfamily Lymexyloidea.
They are 7 to 18 mm long. The larvae bore into living and decaying wood, where they eat the fungi that grow in their tunnels. Some species are pests, killing live trees and damaging timber structures such as houses and ships.
There are 37 species in 7 genera, including:
- The chestnut timberworm, Melittomma sericeum
- The ship timber beetle, Lymexylon navale
Reproduction in Hylecoetus dermestoides
This species has evolved a very interesting relationship with the yeast-like fungus, Endomyces hylecoeti. Every egg the female lays is coated with fungal spores from a pouch near her ovipositor. The larvae hatch and collect some of the spores by staying close to their egg shells for a while before tunnelling into the wood. The fungi grows on the walls of the tunnel the larvae make and it is this the young eat rather than the wood. The fungi requires a good flow of air, so the larvae keep their tunnel free of any debris.[1]
Genera
Lymexylidae contains the following genera:[2]
- Arractocetus Kurosawa, 1985
- Atractocerus Palisot de Beauvois, 1801
- Australymexylon Wheeler, 1986
- Elateroides Schaeffer, 1766
- Fusicornis Philippi, 1866
- Lymexylon Fabricius, 1775
- Melittomma Murray, 1867
- Melittommopsis Lane, 1955
- Protomelittomma Wheeler, 1986
- Urtea Paulus, 2004
External links
- L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz, Lymexylidae
- Lymexylidae on ITIS
- A video of Atractocerus brasiliensis, a ship timber beetle in Costa Rica
See also
References
- ↑ Piper, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
- ↑ Lymexylidae Species List at Joel Hallan’s Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved on 17 May 2012.