| Rhipicera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Rhipicera carinata | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Rhipiceridae |
| Genus: | Rhipicera Latreille, 1817 |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Rhipicera is a genus of beetle belonging to the family Rhipiceridae. [1] [2] The larvae are parasitoids of cicadas.
All five species of the genus Rhipicera are closely related based on their morphological characters. [2]
Beetles are 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 described 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, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. 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 sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a family of beetles.
Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, Rivacindela hudsoni, can run at a speed of 9 km/h, or about 125 body lengths per second. As of 2005, about 2,600 species and subspecies were known, with the richest diversity in the Oriental (Indo-Malayan) region, followed by the Neotropics. While historically treated as a subfamily of ground beetles (Carabidae) under the name Cicindelinae, several studies since 2020 indicated that they should be treated as a family, the Cicindelidae, which are a sister group to Carabidae within the Adephaga.
Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than 6 mm in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, with most of them in the family Curculionidae. It also includes bark beetles, which while morphologically dissimilar to other weevils in lacking the distinctive snout, is a subfamily of Curculionidae. Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil, which belongs to the family Ptinidae.
The telephone-pole beetle is a beetle native to the eastern United States, and the only living representative of the otherwise extinct family Micromalthidae. They have an unusual lifecycle involving asexually reproducing (parthenogenetic) female larvae, as well as non-functional "ghost adults".
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as the Chrysomelidae. The scientific name of this beetle family goes back to a figure from Greek mythology: after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus was transformed into a large beetle with horns.
The Archostemata are the smallest suborder of beetles, consisting 45 living species in five families. They are an ancient lineage with a number of primitive characteristics. Antennae may be thread-shaped (filiform) or like a string of beads (moniliform). This suborder also contains the only beetles where both sexes are paedogenic, Micromalthus debilis. Modern archostematan beetles are considered rare, but were more diverse during the Mesozoic. The term "Archostemata" is used more broadly by some authors to include both modern archostematans as well as stem-group beetles like "protocoleopterans", which some modern archostematans closely resemble to due to their plesiomorphic morphology. Genetic research suggests that modern archostematans are a monophyletic group. Some genetic studies have recovered archostematans as the sister group of Myxophaga.
Hydrophilidae, also known colloquially as water scavenger beetles, is a family of beetles. Aquatic hydrophilids are notable for their long maxillary palps, which are longer than their antennae. Several of the former subfamilies of Hydrophilidae have recently been removed and elevated to family rank; Epimetopidae, Georissidae, Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, and Spercheidae. While the majority of hydrophilids are aquatic, around a third of described species are terrestrial, mostly belonging to the subfamily Sphaeridiinae.
The Cucujidae, "flat bark beetles," are a family of distinctively flat beetles found worldwide under the bark of dead trees. The family has received considerable taxonomic attention in recent years and now consists of 70 species distributed in five genera. It was indicated Cucujus species are scavengers, only feeding on pupae and larvae of other insects and on other subcortical beetles such as their own. Since the Cucujidae prey on larvae of potentially tree damaging beetles that spread fungal diseases, they are considered to be beneficial to the health of living trees.
Myxophaga is the second-smallest suborder of the Coleoptera after Archostemata, consisting of roughly 65 species of small to minute beetles in four families. The members of this suborder are aquatic and semiaquatic, and feed on algae.
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.
The Chrysomelinae are a subfamily of leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), commonly known as broad-bodied leaf beetles or broad-shouldered leaf beetles. It includes some 3,000 species around the world.
Hydrochus is the only living genus of beetle in the family Hydrochidae, which belongs to the superfamily Hydrophiloidea. Hydrochus includes about 180 species, which are found worldwide. Hydrochus has also been used for a fly genus in the family Dolichopodidae. This junior homonym is a junior subjective synonym of the genus Rhaphium.
The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles. There are only two extant genera, Brachypsectra and Asiopsectra. Brachypsectra has a cosmopolitan distribution, mostly in arid regions, while Asiopsectra is found in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Tiphia femorata, often known as a beetle-killing wasp or common tiphiid wasp, is a species of wasp belonging to the family Tiphiidae, subfamily Tiphiinae.
Dascillidae is a family of beetles within the clade Elateriformia. There are about 100 extant species in 11 genera, which are found worldwide. Dascillidae together with Rhipiceridae form the super family Dascilloidea.
Rhipiceridae is a family of beetles found worldwide. The larva of rhipicerids are parasitoids of cicada nymphs. Rhipiceridae and Dascillidae form the super family Dascilloidea, within the Elateriformia.
Rhipicera carinata is a species of beetle in the genus Rhipicera.
Rhipicera femorata is a species of beetle in the genus Rhipicera.
Rhipicera mystacina is a species of beetle in the genus Rhipicera.
Media related to Rhipicera at Wikimedia Commons