''Ceratocanthinae'' is a subfamily of the
scarabaeoid beetle family
Hybosoridae
Hybosoridae, sometimes known as the scavenger scarab beetles, is a family of scarabaeiform beetles. The 690 species in 97 genera occur widely in the tropics, but little is known of their biology.
Hybosorids are small, 5–7 mm in length a ...
. It includes three tribes comprising 43 genera and 366 species; it was formerly treated as a separate family, Ceratocanthidae.
Description
Ceratocanthinae are small sized beetles from 2.0 to 10.0 millimeters in length. Adult beetles can be found on the bark and branches of dead trees and on
fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
.
Distribution
Ceratocanthinae are relatively widespread. They can be found in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n,
Afrotropical
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...
,
Indomalaysian,
Neotropical,
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 t ...
, and
Palaearctic regions.
Ecology
The adults have been found to
associate with
termites
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
and
ants. Larvae live under bark and in burrows of bessbugs (
Passalidae
Passalidae is a family of beetles known variously as "bessbugs", "bess beetles", "betsy beetles" or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species found in North America are notable for their size, ranging from ...
).
Taxonomy
The subfamily Ceratocanthinae contains 43 genera:
References
External links
Generic Guide to New World Scarab BeetlesHYBOSORIDAE... Ceratocanthinae Martínez, 1968
{{Taxonbar, from=Q30148056
Scarabaeiformia
Beetle subfamilies