''Trochoideus desjardinsi'' is a species of
handsome fungus beetle
Endomychidae, or handsome fungus beetles, is a family of beetles with representatives found in all biogeographic realms. There are around 120 genera and 1300 species. The family was established based on the type genus '' Endomychus'', a genus ere ...
in the family
Endomychidae
Endomychidae, or handsome fungus beetles, is a family of beetles with representatives found in all biogeographic realms. There are around 120 genera and 1300 species. The family was established based on the type genus '' Endomychus'', a genus ere ...
.
[ It is found in Africa, North America, and Southern Asia.][
]
Distribution
The species is widely distributed in many Pacific and Indian islands and mainlands such as Andaman Islands, Borneo, Fiji, India, Java, Madagascar, Malay Peninsula, the Mascarene Islands, Myanmar, New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand. It is also introduced to Florida in the United States.
Description
Typical length is about 3.0 to 4.0mm. Body elongate and parallel-sided. Dorsum consists with short dense setae. Antennae with five segments, short, and swollen as an adaptation to life with ants and termites.
Biology
Adults are considered as a minor pest of stored grain products where it feeds on the hyphae and spores of a variety of molds. They commonly inhabited in the dead leaves, in dead wood, and under bark. They are known to live in the nests of the ants ''Paratrechina longicornis
The longhorn crazy ant (''Paratrechina longicornis''), also known as "black crazy ant", is a species of small, dark-coloured insect in the family Formicidae. These ants are commonly called "crazy ants" because instead of following straight line ...
'' and ''Anoplolepis longipes
The yellow crazy ant (''Anoplolepis gracilipes''), also known as the long-legged ant or Maldive ant, is a species of ant, thought to be native to West Africa or Asia. They have been accidentally introduced to numerous places in the world's trop ...
'' and termite species such as ''Macrotermes gilvus
''Macrotermes gilvus'' is a species of termite in the family Termitidae, found in Cambodia, East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. ...
'' and '' Eurytermes ceylonicus''. Adults are often collected from many economically important plants such as banana, in rotten papaya, in dead rachis of ''Angiopteris
''Angiopteris'' is a genus of huge evergreen ferns from the family Marattiaceae, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar to the South Pacific islands. Species of smaller stature with elongate synangia and creeping rhizomes are sometime ...
'' and rotting coconut husks. Adults are easily attracted to many light traps such as ethanol/turpentine traps, mercury vapor lights, black lights, and fluorescent light traps.
References
Further reading
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External links
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Endomychidae
Beetles described in 1857
Beetles of Africa
Taxa named by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville
Beetles of North America
Beetles of Asia
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