FNZ 47 - Erotylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) - Morphology
Leschen, RAB 2003. Erotylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cucujoidea): phylogeny and review. Fauna of New Zealand 47, 108 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
47.
ISBN 0-478-09350-0 (print),
).
Published 05 Jun 2003
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/F7BD20B2-D210-4D51-9CB2-1BC51DF75F2C
Morphology
Basic morphology of Erotylidae and Languriidae is covered in this section. The most comprehensive references for adult morphology of lower cucujoids are Evans (1961), for his treatment of the cryptophagid Atomaria ruficornis (Marsham), and McHugh et al. (1997), for their treatment of the erotylid Megalodacne heros (Say). For gross structure I adopt the terminology used by Lawrence & Britton (1991) and Lawrence et al. (1999a) and for microsculpture I follow Harris (1979, 1998). Key features used in the cladistic analysis are italicised and details about each character are discussed in Appendix 2 under numbers listed at the end of each entry. Structures discussed below are labelled in the following figures: dorsal body (Fig. 8), ventral body (Figs. 9, 14, 15), male genitalia (Fig. 19), female genitalia (Fig. 31, 32) and wing (Fig. 34).
Surface and internal cuticular features
Abdominal calli (Fig. 15): lineate structures present on the internal surfaces of the abdominal ventrites (characters 83, 84).
Cuticular gland ducts (Fig. 10-12, 14, 15): Unitubular or multitubular ducts which extend internally into the cuticle from a distinct pore (or pores) visible at the surface at high magnification. These structures may be associated with various raised lines, deep grooves, or carinae where excretions are dispersed via capillarity or by evaporation from special platforms or callosities (Fig. 11, 68) via evaporation (characters 5, 18, 19, 46-48, 50, 61, 80, 81, 82).
Microsculpture: small cuticular surface features in the form of transverse lines (imbricate) or oval (alveolate) patterns.
Pores: small cuticular openings which are associated with well developed glandular ducts or may be scattered in clusters on sclerites (character 79).
Punctures: shallow pit-like impressions which extend into the cuticle and are often marked by a seta and/or a pore; these also form the striae and the scutellary striole on the elytron (characters 113-114).
Setae: hair-like extensions of the cuticle which are erect, suberect, or decumbent (closely pressed to the surface of the cuticle).
Head and its appendages
Antenna: typically clavate or capitate, consisting of 11 antennomeres and a 3-5 segmented club (characters 24-26).
Frons: anterodorsal portion of the head between the eyes where a frontoclypeal suture (Fig. 6) or supraocular lines (Fig. 53) may be present (characters 1, 29, 30).
Gena: ventrolateral portion of the head which may be anteriorly produced into genal spines (Fig. 40) (characters 16, 27).
Gula: ventral region of the head which usually has a transverse groove and rarely a well developed pit or fovea (Fig. 35, 39) (characters 20-23).
Labium: ventral mouthparts which include the mentum, ligula, prementum and labial palpi (characters 13-15).
Mandible (Fig. 56-59): dorsoventrally flattened appendage consisting mainly of apical teeth, a membranous prostheca, and a basal striate mola (2-4).
Maxilla (Fig. 60, 61): tripartite appendage located below the mandible consisting of an outer palp of three segments and a palpiger, a middle galea, and inner lacinia with one to three apical teeth (characters 6-8).
Mentum (Fig. 41, 42): posterior portion of the labium which consists of a transverse and median carinae, sometimes with lateral pits or pockets formed by well defined rims along the carinae (characters 9-12).
Ocular setae (Fig. 47): setae which are located between the eye facets (character 28; = interfacetal setae of Lawrence et al. 1999a).
Tentorium: internal structure which may have an anterior median spine which arises from a bridge-like corporotentorium (17).
Vertex (Fig. 53, 54): dorsal portion of the head which may have stridulatory files or a transverse vertexal line (= occipital carina, Lawrence et al. 1999a) and is sometimes bounded laterally by temples which extend posteriorly from the eyes (characters 31- 34).
Thorax
Hypomeron: deflexed portion of the pronotum which lies beneath the lateral carina; it may have a notch (Fig. 70) or spine (Fig. 13) along its posterior margin, and may connect with the prosternal process posteriorly behind the procoxa (character 54).
Procoxal cavity: fossa which serves as the point of insertion for the procoxa which may have a narrow anterior extension, the trochantinal notch (Fig. 13, 76), which is the posterior extension of the notosternal suture (characters 51-53, 55).
Pronotum: dorsal portion of the prothorax consisting of a disc (portion of the pronotum above the carina) and may have well developed posterior and anterior angles, a basal sulcus and pits; the lateral margin or lateral carina may have teeth, a well developed marginal bead or raised rim, and other structures (characters 35-38, 40-45).
Prosternum: ventral portion of the prothorax which may have teeth along its anterior edge, forms the walls of the coxal cavities, and has a posterior procoxal process (Fig. 76) which may have lateral flanges which extend partly behind the procoxal cavities (characters 39, 49).
Pterothorax
Mesoventrite: ventral portion of the mesothorax which often has anterior procoxal rests; rarely a pair of median carinae or lines (Fig. 87) or foveae, and meets the metaventrite posteriorly by the mesoventral process between the mesocoxae, articulating by means of internal mono- (Fig. 83) or dicondylate articulations or a simple flat edge (characters 56-60, 62, 64, 66).
Mesepisternum and mesepimeron: lateral or pleural elements of the mesothorax, a pit may be present in the mesepisternum (character 63).
Metaventrite: ventral portion of the metathorax which articulates anteriorly with the mesoventrite and posteriorly with the first ventrite of the abdomen (a notch may be present medially, Fig. 85) and usually has a median discrimen or longitudinal groove, subcoxal lines (or femoral lines), and precoxal lines on the external surface; there may be internal pores or hemidesmosomes. The metaventrite encloses the lateral portion of the mesocoxal cavities and connects with the lateral extensions of the mesoventrite. The metendosternite is an internally bifurcate structure which functions in muscle attachment (characters 64, 65, 67-72, 79, 85, 86).
Metepisternum and metepimeron: pleural region of the metathorax; the metepisternum may have a ctenidium (Fig. 89), a comb-like line of setae along its inner margin (character 73).
Abdomen
Aedeagus (Fig. 19, 27): male intromittent organ of the cucujoid type (Crowson 1955) consisting of a ring-like tegmen, a median lobe, articulated parameres, internal sac (sometimes with a flagellum, internal sclerites and an apical apodeme), and posterior struts (characters 87-89).
Ovipositor (Fig. 31): female genitalia and egg -laying structure consisting of paired basal gonocoxites usually with an apical gonostyle or style (characters 92-96).
Spiracles: spiracles are present in the dorsal (tergal) membranes and may be absent from the apical abdominal terga (character 102).
Sternites 8-10: sternites 9 and 10 are fused in the male and form a ring around the apical portions of the aedeagus with an anterior extension or spiculum gastrale (characters 90, 91); sternite 8 is in the form of long ventral strut in the female and is referred to here as a spiculum ventrale (character 97).
Spermatheca (Fig. 32-33): female sperm storage structure consisting of a basal bulb, which may have an apical pit, an accessory gland, and a spermathecal duct (characters 98-101).
Ventrite 1: first visible ventral segment of the abdomen which articulates with the metaventrite medially by an intercoxal process and forms the posterior portion of the metacoxal cavities; its surface may have subcoxal lines; the intersegmental membrane between ventrites 1 and 2 may be absent and the two sclerites may be fixed or connate (characters 74-78).
Body appendages
Elytron: hardened forewing consisting of a dorsal disc which may have well developed longitudinal striae consisting of punctures, a small scutellary striole (a short rudimentary stria that begins near the scutellum), a humeral spine near its base, and with a lateral epipleuron which is clearly visible in ventral view (characters 112-117).
Hind wings (Fig. 34): typically well developed with up to 9 veins and cross veins, including two cells, the radial and wedge cells (characters 118-120).
Legs: consisting of the basal coxa (with a small trochantin that is hidden), a short trochanter, elongate femur and tibia, and 5 segmented tarsus, with tarsomere 5 having a well developed empodium, empodial setae, tarsal claws, and sometimes a tarsal shelf which is a ventral extension of tarsomere that covers the empodium (Fig. 96-98) (characters 103-111).