''Cucujus'' 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 Cucujidae, the flat bark beetles. It contains 19 currently recognized species and subspecies.

Description

Species of ''Cucujus'' are of moderate size (6-25mm), greatly dorso-ventrally compressed, and brightly colored, often red or red and black. Additionally, they can distinguished from other members of the family by the head being generally wider than the pronotum with prominent temples, and the elongate, inverted male genitalia with a flagellum. The genus occurs throughout the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

region, with indigenous species in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is most diverse in Asia.

Ecology

The biology of most species in the genus is poorly known. All life stages live under dead bark, where they apparently are predacious. Larvae also are dorso-ventrally compressed. ''Cucujus clavipes puniceus'', which occurs in western North America, has been the subject of considerable research interest due to its ability to produce natural antifreeze compounds.

Species

* '' Cucujus bicolor'' Smith, 1851 * '' Cucujus chinensis'' Lee & Sâto, 2007 * '' Cucujus cinnaberinus'' Scopoli, 1763 * '' Cucujus clavipes'' Fabricius ** ''Cucujus clavipes clavipes'' Fabricius, 1781 ** ''Cucujus clavipes puniceus'' Mannerheim, 1843 * '' Cucujus coccinatus'' Lewis, 1881 * '' Cucujus coloniarius'' (Olliff, 1885) (syn. of ''C. bicolor''?) * '' Cucujus costatus'' Zhao & Zhang, 2019 * '' Cucujus elongatus'' Lee & Pütz, 2008 * '' Cucujus grouvellei'' Reitter, 1877 *'' Cucujus haematodes'' Erichson ** ''Cucujus haematodes haematodes'' Erichson, 1845 ** ''Cucujus haematodes caucasicus'' Motschulsky, 1845 ** ''Cucujus haematodes opacus'' Lewis, 1888 * '' Cucujus janatai'' Háva, Zahradník & Růžička, 2019 * '' Cucujus kempi'' Grouvelle, 1913 * '' Cucujus mniszechi'' Grouvelle, 1874 * '' Cucujus muelleri'' Bussler, 2017 * '' Cucujus nigripennis'' Lee & Sâto, 2007 * '' Cucujus tulliae'' Bonacci, Mazzei, Horák, & Brandmayr, 2012

References

Cucujidae Cucujoidea genera Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Beetles of North America Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cucujidae-stub