Bostrichidae

Bostrichidae
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent
Euderia squamosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Bostrichiformia
Superfamily: Bostrichoidea
Family: Bostrichidae
Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies
Diversity
About 700 species

The Bostrichidae are a family of beetles with more than 700 described species. They are commonly called auger beetles, false powderpost beetles, or horned powderpost beetles. The head of most auger beetles cannot be seen from above, as it is downwardly directed and hidden by the thorax. Exceptions are the powderpost beetles (subfamily Lyctinae), and members of the subfamily Psoinae.

Dinoderus brevis

Bostrychoplites cornutus has large, distinctive thoracic horns, and is found in parts of Africa and Arabia; it is often imported to Europe as larvae in African wooden bowls ("ethnic souvenirs") .[1]

The fossil record of the family extends to the Cretaceous, with the oldest records being from the Cenomanian aged Charentese and Burmese ambers, belonging to the extant genus Stephanopachys[2] and the extant subfamilies Dinoderinae[3] and Polycaoninae.[4]

  1. ^ Walker, Ken (2006-11-23). "Auger beetle Bostrychoplites cornutus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae: Bostrichinae)". Pest and Diseases Image Library. Archived from the original on 2007-09-09.
  2. ^ Delclòs, Xavier; Soriano, Carmen; Perrichot, Vincent (2014-03-31). "The earliest occurrence and remarkable stasis of the family Bostrichidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) in Cretaceous Charentes amber". Palaeontologia Electronica. 17 (1): 1–8. doi:10.26879/408. hdl:2445/120503. ISSN 1094-8074.
  3. ^ Legalov, Andrei A. (December 2018). "New auger beetle (Coleoptera; Bostrichidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Cretaceous Research. 92: 210–213. Bibcode:2018CrRes..92..210L. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.014. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 133930742.
  4. ^ Legalov, Andrei A.; Háva, Jiří (December 2020). "The first record of subfamily Polycaoninae (Coleoptera; Bostrichidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Cretaceous Research. 116: 104620. Bibcode:2020CrRes.11604620L. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104620. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 224965515.