''Tritoma'' is a genus 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 in the family

Erotylidae ''Ischyrus quadripunctatus'' Erotylidae, or the pleasing fungus beetles, is a family of beetles belonging to Cucujoidea containing over 100 genera. In the present circumscription, it contains 6 tribes (Tritomini, Dacnini, Megalodacnini, Er ...

, the pleasing fungus beetles. It is distributed worldwide, mainly in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

.Goodrich, M. A. and C. A. Springer. (1999)
The pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) of Nebraska.
''Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences'' 25 53-71. There are over 100 species. Some species consume euagaric mushrooms, staying concealed amidst the gills as they feed. Some feed on mushrooms growing from dead trees, as well as

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...

e on living roots. One of the most common pleasing fungus beetles in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, ''T. bipustulata'', is a black beetle with red spots which engages in

autohaemorrhaging Autohaemorrhaging, or reflex bleeding, is the action of animals deliberately ejecting blood from their bodies. Autohaemorrhaging has been observed as occurring in two variations. In the first form, blood is squirted toward a predator. The blood of ...

as a defensive behavior.Drilling, K. and K. Dettner. (2010)
First insights into the chemical defensive system of the erotylid beetle, ''Tritoma bipustulata''.
''Chemoecology'' 20(4), 243-53. Molecular analysis suggests that ''Tritoma'' is

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

, and might be best treated as two separate genera.Robertson, J. A., et al. (2004)
A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae): evolution of colour patterns, gregariousness and mycophagy.
''Systematic Entomology'' 29(2) 173–87.

Selected species

* '' Tritoma angulata'' Say, 1826^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma atriventris'' LeConte, 1847^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma aulica'' (Horn, 1871)^{i c g} * '' Tritoma biguttata'' (Say, 1825)^{i c g b} * ''

Tritoma bipustulata ''Tritoma'' is a genus of beetles in the family Erotylidae, the pleasing fungus beetles. It is distributed worldwide, mainly in the Old World.Goodrich, M. A. and C. A. Springer. (1999)The pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) of Nebr ...

'' Fabricius, 1775^g * '' Tritoma erythrocephala'' Lacordaire, 1842^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma fasciata'' Chujo, 1941^g * '' Tritoma gressitti'' (Chujo, 1968)^g * '' Tritoma humeralis'' Fabricius, 1801^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma kanekoi'' Araki, 1943^g * '' Tritoma metasobrina'' Chujo, 1941^g * '' Tritoma mimetica'' (Crotch, 1873)^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma pulchra'' Say, 1826^{i c g b} (handsome tritoma) * '' Tritoma sanguinipennis'' (Say, 1825)^{i c g b} (red-winged tritoma) * '' Tritoma shirakii'' Chujo, 1936^g * '' Tritoma subbasalis'' (Reitter, 1896)^g * '' Tritoma sungkangensis'' Nakane, 1966^g * '' Tritoma taiwana'' Chujo, 1936^g * '' Tritoma takasagona'' Chujo, 1941^g * '' Tritoma tenebrosa'' Fall, 1912^{i c g b} (darkling tritoma) * '' Tritoma unicolor'' Say, 1826^{i c g b} * '' Tritoma yamazii'' Chujo, 1941^g * '' Tritoma yiei'' Nakane, 1966^g Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

External links

* * Erotylidae Cucujoidea genera {{Erotylidae-stub