False stag beetle
Diphyllostoma is the only genus of the family Diphyllostomatidae from the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea of.
- 4.1 Notes and references
- 4.2 Literature
Features
Beetle
The beetles have a length from 5.0 to 9.0 millimeters. Your body is elongated and oval and has a brown to reddish-brown color. The head has forwardly mouthparts and is directed downward. The ten-membered, at the end of club-shaped thickened antennae are straight and not kneeling. They are covered with fine Toment. The mandibles are strongly developed and at the top of either square or rounded. They emerge over the apex of the labrum. The maxillary and labial palps are four members. The pronotum is slightly convex and has no tubercles, ridges, grooves or projections. Its base is narrower than that of the top sash. The parabolic tag ( scutellum ) is exposed. The hips ( coxae ) of the front legs are almost conical. The hips of the middle legs almost border each other. The rails ( tibiae ) of the front legs are serrated on the outer edge. At its apex the solid spur missing. The rails of the middle and rear legs wearing grooves and have at their apices two spurs. The simple claws are all the same size. At the tarsi a Empodium is formed, which extends with its tip to the fifth Tarsomer and bears two bristles. The slightly convex elytra are elongate and cover the pygidium. They are provided with slightly indented rows of dots. The males are fully capable of flight, the females have atrophied wings and can not fly. The abdomen has seven visible sternites, on which there are functional Tracheenöffnungen in the Pleuralmembranen. The genitalia of the males are tri- lobe.
The following autapomorphies demarcate the type of the other families of the Scarabaeoidea: The abdomen has seven Ventrite, the hind wings have to have a single, free-standing branch of the second anal vein, the middle and rear rails on the outside of a sloping ridge of small spines and a hem of spines at the apex, the Tarsomere, especially the first and fifth are relatively long, the leg ring ( Trochantin ) lies at the base of the front legs free and the males have a forward projection on the basal part of the penis.
Dissemination and lifestyle
The three previously known species are endemic to the Diphyllostoma the west coast of California. The life of the beetle is explored only very sketchy. The larvae are so far completely unknown, but it is thought that they live in the ground.
Taxonomy and systematics
Originally, the genus in 1901 attributed by Henry Clinton case the Schrötern ( Lucanidae ) whose assignment had for long. It was not until 1972, Beverley Anne Holloway, the group in its own family. She suspected that they were closely related to the dung beetles ( Geotrupidae ), but Browne and Scholtz suspect Schröter than the next closest sister taxon. So far the following three types are known:
- Diphyllostoma fimbriata case, 1901
- Diphyllostoma linsleyi case, 1932
- Diphyllostoma nigricollis case, 1901