Agyrtidae, or primitive carrion beetles, are a small family of

beetle 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 describ ...

s belonging to Staphylinoidea. They are found in mostly temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere and in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Characteristics

Agyrtidae are small or middle-sized beetles (length 4–14 mm). They have usually oval body, but the Pterolomatinae are superficially similar to

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal f ...

Abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

is with five visible ventral

sclerite A sclerite (Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly ...

s, procoxal cavities internally open. Hindwings have

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

lobe but no radial hinge.

Ecology

The group have a diverse ecological habits, but appear to be mostly saprophagous. Necrophilinae is attracted to decaying material including carrion, rotting fungi and dung, in the vicinity of temperate forests. Agyrtinae have a diverse variety of habits, with the genus '' Lyrosoma'' being found on cold beaches of the North Pacific rim, where they have been found feeding on kelp and dead seabirds, while '' Ipelates'' is associated with decaying logs and fungi, leaf litter, vegetation and flowers. Pterolomatinae appears to be active predators, with '' Pteroloma'' having been found in wet and boggy habitats, especially cold mountain streams. Some '' Apteroloma'' species are found abundantly in mountain habitats, while others are found in open or forested areas.

Fossil record

The oldest unambiguous members of the family are from the Early Cretaceous of Asia, including '' Ponomarenkia'' from the Turga Formation and '' Palаeonecrophilus'' from the Khasurty locality, both of which are located in Buryatia in Russia, and date the Aptian stage (~125–113 million years ago). The latter can be assigned to the modern subfamily Necrophilinae. Earlier claimed Jurassic records, such as '' Mesagyrtes'' and '' Mesecanus'' from the Middle Jurassic of China, require re-evaluation.

Systematics

Currently, about 60 species are known. The family is divided into three subfamilies: *

Agyrtinae Agyrtinae is a subfamily in the family Agyrtidae.Lawrence, J.F. & Newton, A.F., Jr. Evolution and classification of beetles. Annu. Rev. of Ecology and Systematics 13, 1982. It contains four genera: '' Agyrtes'' (the type genus of the subfamily ...

**'' Agyrtes'' (

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

, Palearctic, Oriental realms) **'' Ecanus'' (Palearctic) **'' Ipelates'' (Palearctic, Oriental realms) **'' Lyrosoma'' (coasts of northern Eastern Asia and north-westerrn North America) *Necrophilinae **''

Necrophilus ''Necrophilus'' is a genus of primitive carrion beetles in the family Agyrtidae Agyrtidae, or primitive carrion beetles, are a small family of beetles belonging to Staphylinoidea. They are found in mostly temperate areas of the Northern Hemis ...

'' (Western Palearctic, Oriental, and Nearctic) **'' Zeanecrophilus'' (New Zealand) *Pterolomatinae **'' Apteroloma'' (Nearctic, Palearctic,

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

, Oriental Realms) **'' Pteroloma'' (Nearctic, Palearctic) Until recently, species of this family had been included in the family

Silphidae Silphidae is a family of beetles that are known commonly as large carrion beetles, carrion beetles or burying beetles. There are two subfamilies: Silphinae and Nicrophorinae. Nicrophorines are sometimes known as sexton beetles. The number of ...

(as tribes Lyrosomatini and Agyrtini), but are now considered more closely related to the family Leiodidae.Lawrence,J.F. & Newton,A.F., Jr. Evolution and classification of beetles. Annu. Rev. of Ecology and Systematics 13, 1982.

References

External links

Agyrtidae at Tolweb
{{Taxonbar, from=Q19064 Beetle families Staphylinoidea