Net-winged beetles | |
---|---|
Metriorrhynchus rhipidius | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Suborder: | Polyphaga |
Infraorder: | Elateriformia |
Superfamily: | Elateroidea |
Family: |
Lycidae Laporte, 1836 |
Genera | |
Caenia Newman, 1838 |
Caenia Newman, 1838
Calochromus Guerin-Meneville
Calopteron Laporte, 1838
Cladophorus Guerin, 1831
Dictyopterus J.V.Lamouroux, 1809, nom. cons.
Eropterus Green, 1951
Leptoceletes Green, 1952
Lycus Fabricius, 1787
Metriorrhynchus Gemminger et Harold, 1869
Platerodrilus Pic, 1921
Plateros Bourgeois, 1879
Porrostoma Laporte, 1838
Pyropterus Pyropterus
Sulabanus Dvorak & Bocak, 2007
Trichalus Waterhouse, 1877
The Lycidae are a family in the beetle order Coleoptera, members of which are commonly called net-winged beetles.
Beetles of this family are elongated and usually found on flowers or stems. Adults are about 10-15 mm in length, while females are a bit larger. The adults of some species are nectarivores, while some may have short adult lives during which they may not feed at all. The head is triangular and the antennae are long, thick, and serrated. Most of them are brick-red in colour. They are protected from predators by being toxic. The predaceous larvae grow under bark or in leaf litter.
These beetles are cosmopolitan, being found in Nearctic, Palearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australian ecoregions.Calopteron discrepans is found in the Eastern United States from New England south to Florida.
A lycid from India
Mating Metriorrhynchus rhipidius