| Giant click beetle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male O. mucronatus from Mindanao, Philippines | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Tribe: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | O. mucronatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Oxynopterus mucronatus (Olivier, 1792) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Oxynopterus mucronatus, sometimes known as the giant click beetle, is a species of click beetle from tropical Southeast Asia. Their larvae are specialized predators of termites. [1]
Oxynopterus mucronatus was originally described by the French entomologist Guillaume-Antoine Olivier in 1792 as Elater mucronatus. The type specimen was obtained from the collection of William V, Prince of Orange. [2] [3] It became the type species of the genus Oxynopterus , established by the English naturalist Frederick William Hope in 1842. O. mucronatus is classified under the tribe Oxynopterini, in the click beetle family Elateridae. [4] [5]
The generic name Oxynopterus means "sharp-wing" in ancient Greek; while the specific name mucronatus is Latin for "pointed". Both refer to the sharp, pointed tips of the elytra. [6]
O. mucronatus, like other members of the genus Oxynopterus , are among the largest of the click beetles. [7] [8] The males have distinctive feather-like antennae, with long flat lamellae extending from the antenna segments. The females in contrast, have thin toothed antennae and are larger than the males. The prothorax is shield-shaped, with sharply pointed posteriolateral tips. The elytra are long and smooth, tapering to a sharp point. The claws are simple, without bristles (setae), pads, or lobes on the tarsal segments. They are predominantly reddish-brown in life. [4] [6]
The larvae of O. mucronatus are specialized predators of termites of the genus Neotermes . [1] [4] [9]
Dried O. mucronatus is regarded as a traditional aphrodisiac in Javanese culture. [10] They are also popular among insect collectors due to their large sizes. [8]
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxynopterus mucronatus . |
Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently. The largest of all families, the Curculionidae (weevils), with some 83,000 member species, belongs to this order. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The Lampyridae are a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera with more than 2,000 described species. They are soft-bodied beetles that are commonly called fireflies, glowworms, or lightning bugs for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This chemically produced light from the lower abdomen may be yellow, green, or pale red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers. Some species such as the dimly glowing "blue ghost" of the Eastern U.S. are commonly thought to emit blue light, although this is a false perception of their truly green emission light, due to the Purkinje effect.
Elateridae or click beetles are family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or skipjacks. This family was defined by William Elford Leach (1790–1836) in 1815. They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess. There are a few other families of Elateroidea in which a few members have the same mechanism, but most elaterid subfamilies can click. A spine on the prosternum can be snapped into a corresponding notch on the mesosternum, producing a violent "click" that can bounce the beetle into the air. Clicking is mainly used to avoid predation, although it is also useful when the beetle is on its back and needs to right itself. There are about 9300 known species worldwide, and 965 valid species in North America.
Amphizoa is a genus of aquatic beetles in the suborder Adephaga, placed in its own monogeneric family, Amphizoidae. There are five known species of Amphizoa, three in western North America and two in eastern palearctic. They are sometimes referred to by the common name troutstream beetles.
Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as clown beetles or Hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven tergites exposed, and their elbowed antennae with clubbed ends. These predatory feeders are most active at night and will fake death if they feel threatened. This family of beetles will occupy almost any kind of niche throughout the world. Hister beetles have proved useful during forensic investigations to help in time of death estimation. Also, certain species are used in the control of livestock pests that infest dung and to control houseflies. Because they are predacious and will even eat other Hister beetles, they must be isolated when collected.
The Elateroidea are a large superfamily of beetles. It contains the familiar click beetles, fireflies, and soldier beetles and their relatives.
Pyrophorus is a genus of click beetle. They are one of several genera in the tribe Pyrophorini, all of which are bioluminescent. Their bioluminescence is similar to that of another group of beetles, the fireflies, although click beetles do not flash, but remain constantly glowing. They have two luminescent spots at the posterior corners of the pronotum, and another brighter light organ on the most-anterior surface of the ventral abdomen. This light organ is even brighter and can only be seen when in flight. Bioluminescent click beetles are found throughout tropical, subtropical and temperate America. Species from Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Cuba are now in different genera in the tribe Pyrophorini, such as Deilelater and Ignelater.
The Rhagophthalmidae are a family of beetles within the superfamily Elateroidea. Members of this beetle family have bioluminescent organs on the larvae, and sometimes adults, and are closely related to the Phengodidae, though historically they have been often treated as a subfamily of Lampyridae, or as related to that family. Some recent evidence suggested that they were the sister group to the Phengodidae, and somewhat distantly related to Lampyridae, whose sister taxon was Cantharidae, but more reliable genome-based phylogenetics placed as the sister group to the Lampyridae.
Hygrobia is a genus of aquatic beetles native to Europe, North Africa, China and Australia. It is the only genus in the family Hygrobiidae, also known as the Paelobiidae. These are known commonly as squeak beetles or screech-beetles.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 58 described genera and about 500 described species. The family is represented on all continents except Antarctica, and is most diverse at both the generic and species levels in the Old World tropics.
Agrypnus murinus is a species of click beetle belonging to the family Elateridae subfamily Agrypninae.
Denticollis linearis is a species of click beetle belonging to the family Elateridae subfamily Dendrometrinae.
The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles. There are only two extant genera, Brachypsectra and Asiopsectra. The type species, Brachypsectra fulva, occurs in North America. Other species in the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. Two other extant and fossil species have been described from the Dominican Republic. While formerly considered monogeneric, in 2016 Asiopsectra was described from specimens found in Iran and Tajikistan. Two extinct genera, Vetubrachypsectra and Hongipsectra, known from adults, and a larval genus, Cretopsectra are known from Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.
Brachypsectra fulva is a species of beetle in the Brachypsectridae family commonly known as the Texas beetle.
Pyrophorus noctilucus, common name Headlight Elater, is a species of click beetle.
Lanelater mastersii is a species of click beetle belonging to the family Elateridae.
Tetralobus flabellicornis, the Giant Acacia Click Beetle, is a species of click beetle belonging to the family Elateridae.
Amychus granulatus, commonly known as the Cook Strait click beetle, is a large flightless click beetle in the family Elateridae.
Elater ferrugineus, the rusty click beetle, is a species of click beetle belonging to the family Elateridae.
Chilocorus orbus is a species of lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is native to North America. It is a black, domed beetle with two large red spots and is commonly called the twice-stabbed lady beetle. Both adults and larvae feed on scale insects.