Lymexylidae

Ship-timber beetles
Lymexylon navale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Lymexyloidea
Family: Lymexylidae
Fleming, 1821
Wikispecies has information related to: Ship-timber beetle
Real life example of an adult Lymexylon Navale.

The Lymexylidae, or ship-timber beetles (historically often spelled Lymexylonidae), are a family of wood-boring beetles, comprising the sole family within the superfamily Lymexyloidea.

Their larvae bore into living and decaying wood (chestnut, poplar, and oaks), where they eat the fungus (Ascoidea hylecoeti) which grows in their tunnels. The beetles grow up to about 5 to 40 mm long. These beetles are believed to be the first beetles to evolve an agricultural behavior.

Habitat and Behavior

Lymexylon, Elateroides, and Melittomma are pests to forest trees such as Chestnut, Poplar, and Oak, and are distributed worldwide. Some species are parasitic, causing decay in living trees and damaging timber structures such as houses and ships. Wood boring activities occur primarily in the larva stage, with the larvae damaging both sapwood and heartwood.

Example of an infested tree.

Lymexylidae larvae have a symbiotic association with certain types of fungi. The fungi grow in sheltered environments where they are tended by the larvae, such as in the holes burrowed into the wood - and in return, the larvae feed on the fungal farms.

Reproduction in Elateroides Dermestoides

Elateroides dermestoides lays eggs into boreholes of bark beetles on a fallen beech

Specifically, this species has evolved a very interesting relationship with the yeast-like fungus, Endomyces hylecoeti. Every egg the female lays is coated with fungal spores from a pouch near her ovipositor. The larvae hatch and subsequently collect some of the spores by remaining close to the egg shells for a period of time, before tunneling further into the wood. The fungi grow on the tunnel walls, which are created by the larvae. The larvae then consume the fungus, rather than the wood itself. The fungi require a good flow of air, so the larvae ensure the tunnels are free of any debris.[1]

Species and Genera

There are nearly 50 species in 8 genera, including:

Lymexylidae contain the following genera:[2]

Morphology

Adult morphology:

Immature Morphology:

Classification

The Superfamily Lymexyloidea is currently within Series Cucujoidea. The internal phylogeny has not been clearly understood/completed by experts. Morphological data places the family inside the Tenebrionoidea, while molecular data place it as sister taxon to Tenebrionoidea, and polyphyletic.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Piper, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
  2. ↑ Lymexylidae Species List at Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved on 17 May 2012.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.