Ptiliidae
Dipentium zelandicum
The dwarf beetles or Federflügler ( Ptiliidae ) represent a family of beetles, which are reported worldwide with 500 species, of which 18 genera and 87 species occur in Central Europe.
- 3.1 Literature
- 3.2 Notes and references
- 3.3 External links
Description
The beetles are only 0.25 to 1.3 millimeters long, making them the smallest beetles at all. They are either light brown, dark brown or black and have a light base, legs and antennae. Your body is either spherical, oval or elongated like a grain of rice. The elytra of some species do not cover the entire abdomen, but leave a small tip free. The most interesting feature in this family are the narrow, tongue-shaped hind wings, which bear long bristles for enlarging the surface at the edges. The beetles of this family are capable of flight.
The beetles and larvae live in rotten wood and decaying plant parts or in the foliage. You are mycetophag, that is, they feed on spores, mainly by molds, but also higher fungi.
System
In Europe, dwarf beetle with three subfamilies, 21 genera and over 130 species are represented. The following list gives an overview of the represented species in Europe and a few selected species:
Subfamily Acrotrichinae
- Acrotrichis
- Baeocrara Two-colored dwarf beetle ( Baeocrara variolosa ) ( Mulsant & Rey, 1873)
Subfamily Nanosellinae
- Baranowskiella
Subfamily Ptiliinae
- Actidium
- Actinopteryx
- Astatopteryx
- Bambara
- Euryptilium
- Micridium
- Microptilium
- Millidium
- Nossidium Oval dwarf beetle ( Nossidium pilosellum ) ( Marsham, 1802)
- Light brown dwarf beetle ( Oligella foveolata ) ( Alli Bert, 1844)
Fossil evidence
The types Microptilium geistausti and Ptinella oligocaenica described from the Eocene Baltic amber are probably the oldest fossil evidence yet of this beetle family.