The adults have alepturoid aspect, having like those (except for a small number of cases) a dividedstridulatory area. Nevertheless, the head is extremely short, themandibles are strongly bowed and the anteriorcoxae are globular. Theantennae are long, nearlyfiliform in most of the genera, and bearing very longsetae in theMalagasy genusNethinius.
The major differences are in thelarval morphology, because they have the prosternal skin attached to the base of the submentum, rather than with the gula such as all otherCerambycidae. For nearly all other aspects, they are very similar to the larvae ofLepturinae.
The adults have mostly nocturnal behaviour; some species (Nethinius) may be collected beating plants where they live. The fact that several specimens have been collected with mutilated legs and antennae suggests the existence of an aggressive character and of infra-specific fights for females.[1] The larvae arexylophagous and attack wood or roots of broad-leaf trees.
^VITALI F., 2006 - Contribution à la connaissance desNethinius malgaches (Coleoptera Disteniidae) - L'Entomologiste 62 (5-6):175-178. PDF[1]
^GAHAN C. J., 1906 - Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Coleoptera Cerambycidae I - Today & Tomorrow‘s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, 329 pp. PDF[2]
^LINSLEY E. G., 1961- The Cerambycidae of North America. Part I. Introduction - Univ. Calif. Publ. Entomol. 18:1-97.
^CHEMSAK, J. A. & LINSLEY.E. G., 1982 - Checklist of the Cerambycidae and Disteniidae of North America,Central America, and the West Indies (Coleoptera). Plexus Publ. Inc., 138 pp.
^NAPP D. S., 1994 - Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera, Chrysomeloidea) - Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 28 (2): 265-419.
^MONNÉ, M.A. & GIESBERT E.F., 1995 - Checklist of the Cerambycidae and Disteniidae (Coleoptera) of the Western Hemisphere -Wolfsgarden Books, Burbank, Calif. xiv + 420 pp.
^JENIŠ I., 2001 - Long-Horned Beetles Distenidae, Oxypeltidae, Vesperidae, Anoplodermatidae & Cerambycidae I, Vesperidae and Cerambycidae of Europe I, A. Regulus, Zlin, 333 pp.[3]
^VANIN S. A. & IDE S., 2002 - Classificação comentada de Coleoptera - III. Marco sistemático del proyecto Pribes 2002 PDF[4]
^MAKIHARA H. NOERDJITO W. A. & SUGIARTO, 2002 - Longicorn Beetles from Gunung Halimun National Park, West Java, Indonesia from 1997 (Coleoptera, Disteniidae and Cerambycidae) - Bulletin of FFPRI 1 (3) (No. 384): 189-223 PDF[5]
^FUJIWARA J. & HAYASHI M., 2007 - Insect Fauna of Shakunouchi Park in Unnan City, Shimane Prefecture, Part 1 Disteniidae, Cerambycidae and Chrysomalidae (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea) - Bulletin of the Hoshizaki Green Foundation 10: 211-223. PDF[6]
