Cleridae

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Cleridae
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic–Recent
Some checkered beetles
described in the mid-19th century
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Cleroidea
Family: Cleridae
Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies

Clerinae Latreille, 1802
Enopliinae Gistel, 1856 (disputed)
Epiphloeinae Gistel, 1856 (disputed)
Hydnocerinae Spinola, 1844
Korynetinae Laporte, 1836
Tarsosteninae Jacquelin du Val, 1861 (disputed)

Thaneroclerinae Chapin, 1921[verification needed] (but see text
)
Tillinae Leach, 1815
and see below

Cleridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. They are commonly known as checkered beetles. The family Cleridae has a worldwide distribution, and a variety of habitats and feeding preferences.

Cleridae have many

eggs at a time predominately under the bark
of trees. Larvae are predaceous and feed vigorously before pupation and subsequently emergence as adults.

Clerids have a minor significance in

stored product entomology) and are found infesting various food products. Research efforts related to Cleridae have focused primarily on using certain species as biological controls. This is a very effective technique for controlling bark beetles
due to the voracious appetite of many clerid species.

Description

Narrow pronotum in Enoclerus ichneumoneus (Clerinae)

Appearance

Generally, checkered beetles are elongated and

dorsal plates).[1]

Identification

Clerid beetles fall under the suborder

sternites. Also, the notopleural suture (found under the pronotal shield) is not present.[1]
To further identify Clerid beetles, a few additional characteristics need to be examined.

5 rear leg tarsomeres of Tillus elongatus (Tillinae)

Clerid beetles have unique legs that help to distinguish them from other families. Their tarsal formula is 5–5–5, meaning that on each of the front, middle and hind legs there are 5 tarsomeres (individual subsegments of the feet/tarsi).[1] One or more of these subsegments on each leg is typically lobed, and the 4th tarsomere is normally difficult to distinguish. Furthermore, an important feature that eliminates many other families of beetles is that clerids' front coxae (base of the leg) expose the second segment of the legs known as the trochanter.[1]

The second defining characteristic of the family Cleridae is that clerids never have eversible vesicles (small usually hidden balloon-like structures thought to be scent glands) on their

pronotum. This characteristic distinguishes them from a similar family Melyridae which sometimes has these glands.[1]
This trait is very important in correctly differentiating checkered beetles from Melyridae.

Distribution and ecology

Trichodes ornatus (Clerinae) on a flower

Cleridae can be found in the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and even in Australia. There are approximately 3,500 species in the world and about 500 species in North America.

habitats
in which the checkered beetles can be found.

Many of the species are known as "flower visitors", that prey on other

insects and also feed on pollen. These species are found in moist, sunny environments where flowering plants are found in abundance.[4]

Another habitat commonly inhabited by clerid beetles is

trees. These "tree living species" are found in forests across the world with various climates and an array of easily preyed upon insects. They seek protection under the bark and hunt for other insects above and below the bark.[4]
The primary source of prey for these bark living hunters is bark beetles.

The third type of clerid beetles is the "nest robbing species" which live in shrubbery and in trees. Unlike the tree living species, these species do not actually burrow into the bark. Nest robbing species typically hunt termite, bee, and wasp larvae, and one particular species has been noted to prey primarily on grasshopper egg masses.[4] Not all nest robbing species actively hunt live prey, some species for example prefer to feed only on dead honey bee larvae and adults.[4]

Feeding habits

The Cleridae contains many species of predaceous beetles that feed on other beetles and beetle larvae in their natural habitat.[3] The most common prey item for checkered beetles are bark beetles and wood boring beetles.[5]

In general, the bulk of adult Cleridae feed mainly on other adult beetles while the larvae stage feed on other beetle larvae. Some checkered beetles are known to have an extremely voracious appetite with some larvae able to consume "several times their own body weight" in a day.[6]

Although most species of checkered beetles are predaceous in nature, some are scavengers and others have been found feeding on flower pollen.

pheromones to help them locate, kill, and consume their prey.[8]

Necrobia rufipes (Korynetinae)

The diversity of checkered beetle's feeding habits is quite evident when different species are examined.

genera is Trichodes, in which larvae feed on the pollen of flowering plants and adults prey upon grasshoppers and wasps.[9]

Life cycle

The general life cycle of clerids has been known to last anywhere from 35 days to more than 3 years, and is strongly dependent on the life cycle of their prey.

wood-boring beetles, while the adults feed on the adult bark beetles.[11]

Larva of Thanasimus dubius

overwinter.[13]

When larvae hatch from their eggs, they are either red or yellow.

oviposit. Sexually mature adults or imagos of Thanasiumus overwinter inside the wood-borer-infested trees and oviposit during the spring.[12]

Forensic relevance

Stored product entomology

smoked meats, especially those products that are stored unwrapped for long periods of time. Adults feed on the surface of the products, while the larvae damage the meat by boring down usually in the fatty parts.[14] Necrobia rufipes has been recorded feeding upon a large variety of items ranging from hides and dried figs to Egyptian mummies.[14] In addition, products such as wool and silk can become infested, but not destroyed.[14]

Medico-legal entomology

Since clerids are predaceous in nature, they have been found feeding on fly larvae as well as the skin and bones of

forensics because of their food choice, but some species such as Necrobia rufipes can be useful. Necrobia rufipes is attracted towards carrion in the later stages of decomposition, so its arrival on carrion can help provide an estimate for the post-mortem interval or PMI. Although the checkered beetle is not the most significant insect on carrion, the beetle's predaceous nature and its ability to reproduce in carrion that is exposed to the environment provides some forensic importance.[15]

Thanasimus dubius attacking bark beetle prey

Ongoing research

There is ongoing research with some clerid species. Forensic research is limited because of their late arrival on carrion, but members such as

biological control agent for these pests. Researchers and forestry officials have used bark beetle aggregation pheromones to attract the checkered beetle to specific trees. This causes the bark beetles to be overwhelmed, extensively preyed upon by the clerid beetles, and typically eliminated.[16]
There is also additional research being done pertaining to the impact of clerids on pollination in flowers.[17]

Systematics

The

sensu lato. The following list of tribes and selected genera is thus preliminary. Some notable species are also listed. The oldest members of the family are Protoclerus and Wangweiella the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Daohugou bed in Inner Mongolia, China.[18]

Clerus mutillarius (Clerinae)
Phymatophaea guttigera (Enopliinae)
Lemidia aptera (Hydnocerinae)
Necrobia violacea (Korynetinae)
Tarsostenus univittatus (Tarsosteninae)
Diplocladus kuwerti (Tillinae)
Dermestoides sanguinicollis (incertae sedis)

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-03-096835-6
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-395-91089-4
    . Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-8493-8120-7
    .
  4. ^ a b c d Gerstmeier, Ronald (1998). Checkered Beetles: Illustrated Key to the Cleridae and Thanerocleridae of the Western Palaearctic. Weikersheim, Germany: Margraf Verlag. pp. 12–15.
  5. ISBN 0-12-257305-6
    . Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  6. ^ Insects of eastern forests. Misc. Publ. 1426. U.S. Forestry Service. Washington D.C: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1985. pp. 274–275. Retrieved 22 March 2009.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ McNamara, J. (1991) "Family Cleridae: checkered beetles" (PDF). In: Bousquet, Y. (Ed.). Checklist of the Beetles of Canada and Alaska. Agriculture Canada Publication 1861/E. 208–211.
  8. ^ Costello, Sheryl (2003). "Clerid Beetles- Voracious Predators" (PDF). Colorado State University Department of Entomology. pp. 1–15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  9. ^ a b c d e Majka, Christopher (20 June 2006). "A guide to the Cleridae of Atlantic Canada". Chebucto Community Net. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  10. PMID 17505768
    .
  11. ^ a b c d e f Mahr, Susan (May 2000). "Know Your Friends Checkered Beetles". Biological Control News. 7 (1). University of Wisconsin-Madison. Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  12. ^ a b c Linsley, Earle G. (1936). "Studies in the genus Aulicus Spinola (Coleoptera-Cleridae)". University of California Publications in Entomology. 6 (9). Berkeley, California: University of California Press: 249–262.
  13. ^
    S2CID 85273860. Archived from the original
    on 5 January 2013.
  14. ^ a b c Ebeling, Walter (23 August 2002). "Chapter 7 Pests of Stored Food Products". Urban Entomology. University of California Riverside. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  15. S2CID 30551315. Archived from the original
    on 5 January 2013.
  16. ^ Poland, Therese M.; Borden, John H. (December 1997). "Attraction of bark beetle predator, Thanasimus undatulus (Coleoptera: Cleridae), to pheromones of the spruce beetle and two secondary bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)" (PDF). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. 94: 35–41. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  17. ^ Mawdsley, Jonathan R. (2002). "Ecological notes on species of Cleridae (Insecta: Coleoptera) associated with the prairie flora of central North America". The Great Lakes Entomologist. 35 (1): 15–22. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  18. S2CID 89399958
    .
  19. PMID 29674858
    .

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Cleridae.
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