TheCucujidae, orflat bark beetles, are afamily of distinctively flatbeetles found worldwide (except Africa and Antarctica) under the bark of dead trees. The family has received considerable taxonomic attention in recent years and now consists of 70 species distributed in five genera.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was indicated Cucujus species are scavengers, only feeding on pupae and larvae of other insects and on other subcortical beetles such as their own. Since the Cucujidae prey on larvae of potentially tree damaging beetles that spread fungal diseases, they are considered to be beneficial to the health of living trees.[7]
Dorsal habitus ofPalaestes abruptus
Included genera are:Cucujus Fabricius, with 14 species and subspecies distributed throughout the Holarctic;Palaestes Perty, 8 spp., Neotropical;Pediacus Shuckard, 31 spp., mostly Holarctic, but extending south into the Neotropics and to Australia;Platisus Erichson, 5 spp. in Australia and New Zealand, andThesaurus known from South America.
Dorsal habitus ofPlatisus coloniarius.
Cucujidae have elongate parallel-side bodies ranging from 6 to 25 mm in length. Most are brown colored, while others are black, reddish or yellow. Heads are triangular in shape, withfiliform tomoniliform antennae of 11antennomeres, and largemandibles. Thepronotum is narrower than the head.[8][9]
Dorsal habitus ofPediacus subglaber
Both larvae and adults live under bark, otherwise little is known of their habits.[10][11] Larvae and adults appear to be predacious.[10][11]Cucujus cinnaberinus seems to be able to colonize isolated habitats from persisting local populations if there is a sufficient quantity of suitable deadwood in the habitat and it has the other requirements of saproxylic beetles.[12]
While there have been claimed fossil records going back to the Early Cretaceous (such as those from theCrato Formation of Brazil), the oldest unambiguous records are from theEocene.[11]
^C. F. Lee and A. Pütz. (2008) A new species ofCucujus Fabricius, 1775 from China and key to the east–Palaearctic species of the genus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae). Entomologische Zeitschrift 118 (5): 211–213.
^C. F. Lee and M. Satô. (2007) A Review of the GenusCucujus Fabricius (Insecta: Cucujoidea: Cucujidae) from Taiwan, Japan, and China, with Descriptions of Two New Species and the Larvae ofCucujus mniszechi Grouvelle. Zoological Studies 46: 311–321.
^Teresa Bonacci, Antonio Mazzei, Jakub Horákand, and Pietro Brandmayr. 2012.Cucujus tulliae sp. n. – an endemic Mediterranean saproxylic beetle from genusCucujus Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera, Cucujidae), and keys for identification of adults and larvae native to Europe. Zookeys. 2012; (212): 63–79.
^John W. M. Marris and Adam Ślipiński. 2014. A revision of thePediacus Shuckard 1839 (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) of Asia and Australasia. Zootaxa 3754(1): 32–58.
^Michael C. Thomas. 2004. A revision ofPediacus Shuckard (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) for America north of Mexico, with notes on other species. Insecta Mundi 17: 157–177 (2003).
^J. C. Watt, J. W. M. Marris and J. Klimazsewski. 2001. A new species ofPlatisus (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) from New Zealand, described from the adult and larva. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 31: 327–339.
^Bonacci, T., Mazzei, A., Naccarato, A., Elliani, R., Tagarelli, A., & Brandmayr, P. (2018). Beetles “IN red”: Are the ENDANGERED FLAT bark beetles CUCUJUS Cinnaberinus and c. Haematodes Chemically protected? (coleoptera: Cucujidae). The European Zoological Journal, 85(1), 128–136.doi:10.1080/24750263.2018.1449906
^abMichael C. Thomas (2002). "Family 82. Cucujidae Latreille 1802. Pp. 329–330". InRoss H. Arnett Jr.;Michael C. Thomas; Paul E. Skelley; J. H. Frank (eds.).American Beetles. Vol. 2. Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton. pp. xiv + 861.
^Michael C. Thomas and R.A.B. Leschen. 2010. Cucujidae Latreille, 1802. p. 350–354. In: Leschen, R.A.B., R.G. Beutel, and J.F. Lawrence. Coleoptera, Beetles. Vol. 2: Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim). Handbook of Zoology. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin.
^abD. B. Smith and M. K. Sears. 1982. Mandibular structure and feeding habits of three morphologically similar coleopterous larvae:Cucujus clavipes (Cucujidae),Dendroides canadensis (Pyrochroidae), andPytho depressus (Salpingidae). Canadian Entomologist 114: 173–175.
^HORAK, J., VAVROVA, E., & CHOBOT, K. (2010). Habitat preferences Influencing POPULATIONS, distribution and conservation of the Endangered Saproxylic beetle CUCUJUS cinnaberinus (coleoptera: Cucujidae) at the landscape level. European Journal of Entomology, 107(1), 81–88.doi:10.14411/eje.2010.011
^Carrasco MA, Buechler SA, Arnold RJ, Sformo T, Barnes BM, Duman JG (Feb 2012). "Investigating the deep supercooling ability of an Alaskan beetle,Cucujus clavipes puniceus, via high throughput proteomics".J Proteomics.75 (4):1220–34.doi:10.1016/j.jprot.2011.10.034.PMID22094879.
