TheLycidae are a family in thebeetle orderColeoptera, members of which are commonly callednet-winged beetles. These beetles are cosmopolitan, being found in Nearctic, Palearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australian ecoregions.[1]
Beetles of this family are elongated and usually found on flowers or stems. Adult males are about 10–15 mm in length, while females are a bit larger. The adults of some species arenectarivores, 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.
Although older literature reports the larvae to be predatory, the most common mode of feeding is probably microphagy on myxomycetes or metabolic products of fungi.[2][3] Some Lycidae larvae might be found preying on soft larvae of Diptera or small molluscs.[3]
^Lawrence, J.F., Hastings, A.M., Dallwitz, M.J., Paine, T.A., and Zurcher, E.J. 2000 onwards. Elateriformia (Coleoptera): descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval for families and subfamilies. Version: 9 October 2005[1]
^abBocak, L.; Matsuda, K. (2003). "Review of the immature stages of the family Lycidae (Insecta: Coleoptera)".Journal of Natural History.37 (12):1463–1507.doi:10.1080/00222930210125362.
^Kubecek, Vaclav; Bray, Timothy C.; Bocak, Ladislav (2015). "Molecular phylogeny of Metanoeina net-winged beetles identifiesOchinoeus, a new genus from China and Laos (Coleoptera: Lycidae)".Zootaxa.3955 (1):113–122.doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3955.1.6.PMID25947840.
^"Lycidae Report".Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved22 April 2018.
