Melyridae

Melyridae (common name: soft-wing flower beetles) are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea.

Description

Most are elongate-oval, soft-bodied beetles 10 mm long or less. Many are brightly patterned in black and brown, yellow, or red. Some melyrids (Malachiinae) have peculiar orange structures along the sides of the abdomen, which may be everted and saclike or withdrawn into the body and inconspicuous. Some melyrids have the two basal antennomeres greatly enlarged. Most adults and larvae are predaceous, but many are common on flowers. The most common North American species belong to the genus Collops (Malachiinae); C. quadrimaculatus is reddish, with two bluish black spots on each elytron. Some Colombian and New Guinean species have been found to contain batrachotoxins, which may account for the toxicity of some frogs in those areas.

Distribution

The family Melyridae contains 520 species in 58 genera in North America. In Europe 16 genera are present; however, the largest diversity is in tropical rainforests.

Subfamilies

• Dasytinae Laporte de Castelnau, 1840
• Malachiinae Fleming, 1821
• Melyrinae Leach, 1815
• Rhadalinae

List of selected genera

• • Allotarsus
  • Aplocnemus
  • Astylus
  • Chaetomalachius
  • Choresine
  • Danacea
  • Dasytes
  • Dasytidius
  • Dasytiscus
  • Divales
  • Dolichophron
  • Enicopus
  • Graellsinus
  • Haplithrix
  • Microjulistus
  • Psilothrix
  • Trichoceble
  • Trochantodon

Notes

1. ^ Triplehorn, C. and Johnson, N.: "Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th Ed.", page 429. Brooks/Cole, 2005.
2. ^ "Academy Research: A Powerful Poison". 

• Fauna Europaea
• Coleoptera.org