Laemophloeidae of Florida

The Laemophloeidae are a relatively small family of small (1 mm - 3 mm) cucujoid beetles found throughout the world but most abundantly in tropical areas. There are about 450 described species known, of which 54 species occur in the United States. Thirty-two species are recorded from Florida. The Florida fauna is a mixture of more widespread eastern U.S. species with a strong representation of West Indian species, plus some cosmopolitan stored products species that sometimes occur in natural habitats. Most species can be found under the loose bark of deciduous trees, where the majority of the species feed on ascomycete and other kinds of fungi. A few of the genera are found associated with bark beetles and are thought to be predacious on them.

Habitus photos are here provided for all of the described species known to occur in Florida. In most cases, it is the male that is illustrated since in many species it possesses secondary sexual characters that distinguish it from males of related species. Females usually lack the secondary sexual characters, and have a proportionally longer pronotum and shorter antennae. Most species should be identifiable by reference to the pictures. However, in some cases, and especially in the genus Cryptolestes, positive identification can only be obtained through examination of the copulatory organs. Illustrations of these structures are given by Thomas (2003). Species which are known or thought to be exotic immigrants are marked in yellow.

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Laemophloeus Dejean

Laemophloeus biguttatus Say Laemophloeus fasciatus Haldeman Laemophloeus lecontei Grouvelle Laemophloeus megacephalus Grouvelle Laemophloeus suturalis Reitter Laemophloeus woodruffi Thomas

Charaphloeus Casey

Charaphloeus adustus (LeConte) Charaphloeus bituberculatus (Reitter) Charaphloeus convexulus (LeConte)

Placonotus MacLeay

Placonotus macrognathus Thomas Placonotus modestus (Say) Placonotus politissimus (Wollaston) Placonotus zimmermanni (LeConte)

Phloeolaemus Casey

Phloeolaemus chamaeropis (Schwarz) Phloeolaemus quinquearticulatus (Grouvelle)

Parandrita LeConte & Horn

Parandrita permixtus (Grouvelle)

Lathropus Erichson

Lathropus pictus Schwarz

Rhabdophloeus Sharp

Rhabdophloeus horni (Casey)

Leptophloeus Casey

Leptophloeus angustulus (LeConte)

Dysmerus Casey

Dysmerus basalis Casey

Narthecius LeConte

Narthecius grandiceps LeConte

Cryptolestes Ganglbauer

Cryptolestes cornutus Thomas & Zimmerman Cryptolestes curus Lefkovitch Cryptolestes dybasi Thomas Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) Cryptolestes klapperichi Lefkovitch Cryptolestes punctatus (LeConte)

Cryptolestes pusilloides Steel & Howe Cryptolestes pusillus (Schoeherr) Cryptolestes schwarzi (Casey) Cryptolestes turcicus (Grouvelle) Cryptolestes uncicornis (Reitter)