American Beetles is the single most comprehensive[ citation needed ] description of the beetles of North America north of the tropical area of Mexico. It was started by Ross H. Arnett, Jr. as an update of his classic The Beetles of the United States; along with Michael C. Thomas, he enlisted more than 60 specialists to write treatments of each family. The work outlived Arnett, and was published by CRC Press in 2001 (vol. 1) and 2002 (vol. 2).
This is a highly technical book, with extensive references to the literature. The introduction includes a section on beetle anatomy that introduces all the technical terms used later. The bulk of the content consists of treatments of the 130-odd families known to occur in North America (a couple dozen are not known from North America, and are not described); the descriptive material applies worldwide, and there are brief notes about non-North American family members.
A family treatment consists of a morphological description, including the larvae if known, habits and habitats, status of the classification, a key to the Nearctic genera (and sometimes species, if the family is small), and short treatments of the subtaxa. Every family gets at least one drawing of a member, and larger families may include dozens of drawings illustrating particular characters important for classification. Note that the classification that appears in Volume 1, pp. 10–13, is superseded by a number of changes that appeared in Volume 2 (the relegation of the families Monommatidae, Colydiidae, and Bruchidae to subfamily status, and the revised spelling of Ripiphoridae), and these changes have been incorporated into the List of subgroups of the order Coleoptera.
A handful of color photographs are included in a center section.
Prostomidae is a family of beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name jugular-horned beetles. They are often found in dead wood. The family consist of two genera with about 20 species. Prostomis americanus is known from North America. Other species of Prostomis are found in Africa, the Pacific region and East Asia. Species of Dryocora are known from New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania.
The family Pythidae is a small group of beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name dead log bark beetles. There are about 10 genera and 17 described species in Pythidae.
Corylophidae is a family of minute hooded beetles, sometimes called minute fungus beetles, in the order Coleoptera. There are about 18 genera and at least 120 described species in Corylophidae.
Euceratocerus is a genus of death-watch beetles in the family Ptinidae. There are four described species in Euceratocerus.
Scymninae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Coccinellidae. There are at least 170 described species in Scymninae.
Carpophilinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Nitidulidae. There are at least 70 described species in Carpophilinae.
Gyrininae is a subfamily of ground and water beetles in the family Gyrinidae. There are at least 60 described species in Gyrininae.
Hydnocerinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Cleridae. There are at least 70 described species in Hydnocerinae.
Meloinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Meloidae. There are at least 330 described species in Meloinae.
Hydroporinae is a subfamily of predaceous diving beetles in the family Dytiscidae. There are at least 2,200 described species in Hydroporinae.
Holopsis is a genus of minute hooded beetles in the family Corylophidae. There are about 9 described species in Holopsis.
Meligethinae is a subfamily of pollen beetles in the family Nitidulidae. There are about 6 genera and about 10 described species in Meligethinae.
Cillaeinae is a subfamily of sap-feeding beetles in the family Nitidulidae. There are about 9 genera and at least 150 described species in Cillaeinae.
Dytiscinae is a subfamily of predaceous diving beetles in the family Dytiscidae. There are at least 20 genera and 380 described species in Dytiscinae.
Erotinae is a subfamily of net-winged beetles in the family Lycidae. There are about 10 genera and 19 described species in Erotinae.
Podabrus is a genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae. There are at least 110 described species in Podabrus, recorded from Europe, North America and Asia.
Tropiderini is a tribe of fungus weevils in the family of beetles known as Anthribidae. There are at least two genera and about five described species in Tropiderini.
Nephus sordidus, known generally as the little brown mealybug destroyer or sordid ladybug, is a species of dusky lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is found in North America.
Scymnobius intrusus is a species of dusky lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is found in North America.
Scymnobius timberlakei is a species of dusky lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is found in North America.