Loberus
| Loberus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Loberus anthracinus adult from Canterbury Region, New Zealand | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Cucujiformia |
| Family: | Erotylidae |
| Subfamily: | Xenoscelinae |
| Genus: | Loberus LeConte, 1861 |
| Type species | |
| Loberus impressus LeConte, 1863 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Glisonotha Motschulsky, 1863 | |
Loberus is a sizeable genus of pleasing fungus beetles (family Erotylidae) found in most parts of the world (though they are scarce in temperate Eurasia). Some authors place this genus in subfamily Loberinae, others accept fewer subfamilies in the Erotylidae and merge the Loberinae into subfamily Xenoscelinae as tribe Loberini.[1][2]
Initially placed in family Cryptophagidae,[3] subsequent authors usually allied Loberus with the lizard beetles, at that time held to be a distinct family "Languriidae". This was eventually revealed to be paraphyletic with Erotylidae and merged into these.[4]
Description
[edit]Head
The head of these beetles is reminiscent of family Cryptophagidae, where Loberus was originally placed; in most species it has file-like structures which, when rubbed against the adjacent carapace, produce squeaking sounds. On the top of the head, there is no transverse line, and neither a suture between clypeus and forehead; however, the forward throat region has a transverse groove. The compound eyes are large, with ommatidia of moderate size, suggesting a crepuscular lifestyle. The tip of the clypeus is straightly cut-off. The antennae insertions are hidden by the forehead plate, with the first and third antenna segment both longer than the second. Antenna segments 4-8 are equal in length, and antenna segments 9-11 form a "club", with segment 9 much wider than segment 8, segment 10 a bit wider still and also markedly longer; the last (11th) antenna segment is a small nub, slightly longer than wide, and with an asymmetrically rounded tip. The mandible has a well-developed mola, the maxilla a lacinia with thee spines at the tip and a long and narrow galea. The end segment of the labial palps is short and wide.[3]
Body and wings
The prothorax is wider than long, with slightly curving sides, and just a bit wider in the back than in the front. The pronotum has prebasal impressions, and the prosternal process is narrow, with an almost straight tip. The episternal pockets of the middle thorax segment are well developed. The metasternum is wider than it is long, with no mesocoxal lines, and the impressed centerline ending at midpoint, its endosternite's anterior tendons separated by slightly less than the width of basal stalk and the lateral plates narrow. The elytra lack a scutellary striole but have an outer margin which is narrow but well-defined almost up to the wingtip, where it becomes obscure. While some Loberus species have smooth and almost bare elytra, in most species they are covered in short hairs which lie flat; some of the hairy-winged species also have longer and erect bristles scattered between the hairs. Small punctuations form lengthwise lines on the elytra of most species, but in some the elytra punctuation are distributed in a random pattern. The hindwings have four anal veins, an r-m crossvein, a radial cell but no anal cell, and a subcubital fleck. The underside of the first abdominal segment has a triangular process extending forward between the hindleg attachment points, as well as femoral lines. While the male genitalia are characteristic, the female ones resemble those of related genera, with styli attached at the coxites' apex.[3]
Legs
The attachment points of the forelegs are internally wide open, and somewhat more closed externally, and the midleg coxae almost meet in the mesosternal centerline. The first segment of the tarsi is barely longer than the second, and the third segment has a narrow lobe on the underside. Tarsal segment 4 is tiny, and segment 5 is elongated, almost equal in length to the first three segments (without the lobe) together. The trochanters are broadly elongated; the tibiae are narrow throughout, without a flaring tip.[3]
Distribution and ecology
[edit]Loberus is a widespread genus, but absent from temperate Eurasia west of East Asia. They are predominantly found in warmer climates, and species have been reported from all continents, Madagascar, and New Zealand (though the latter were only moved to this genus fairly recently).[3]
More than 150 years after the establishment of genus Loberus, the ecology of these beetles remains almost unknown. As late as 1968, not a single larvae of these beetles had been described.[3]
Selected species
[edit]In 1998, more than 70 species were recognized in this genus, and some additional ones have been discovered since then.[4] Species of Loberus include:
- Loberus aeratus Bruce, 1953[1][2][5]
- Loberus anthracinus (Broun, 1893)[1][2][5]
- Loberus borealis Leschen, 2003[1][2][5]
- Loberus breviformis (Blackburn, 1895)[5]
- Loberus burmensis[2]
- Loberus cordatus Grouvelle, 1903[1]
- Loberus depressus (Sharp, 1876)[1][2][5]
- Loberus discipennis Reitter, 1875[1]
- Loberus diversicollis Grouvelle, 1903[1]
- Loberus fauveli Grouvelle, 1917[1]
- Loberus foveolatus[2]
- Loberus humeralis Reitter[verification needed][3]
- Loberus imbellis Casey, 1900[1][5]
- Loberus impressus LeConte, 1863
- Loberus insularis Casey[verification needed]
- Loberus koebelei (Blackburn, 1895)[5]
- Loberus javanensis Bruce, 1954
- Loberus marginicollis (Grouvelle, 1913)[1][2][5]
- Loberus nitens (Sharp, 1876)[1][2][5]
- Loberus obscurus Montrouzier, 1864[1]
- Loberus ornatus Schaeffer, 1904
- Loberus pictus Montrouzier, 1861[1]
- Loberus puberulus Casey[verification needed]
- Loberus sharpi (Blackburn, 1895)[5]
- Loberus stygius (Blackburn, 1895)[5]
- Loberus subchalceus Grouvelle, 1903[1]
- Loberus subglaber Casey, 1900[1][5]
- Loberus sublautus (Blackburn, 1903)[5]
- Loberus testaceipennis Grouvelle, 1916[1]
- Loberus testaceus Reitter, 1875[1][5][2]
- Loberus tropicus Kirsch, 1873[5]
- Loberus velox Grouvelle, 1919[5]
- Loberus vitraci Grouvelle, 1902[1][5]
- Loberus watti Leschen, 2003[5][2]
References
[edit]
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Loberus J.L. LeConte, 1861". GBIF. Retrieved 2026-06-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Genus Loberus". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sen Gupta, T. (1968): Review of the genera of the tribe Loberini (Coleoptera: Languriidae). Breviora 303: 1-27. Fulltext
- 1 2 Leschen, Richard A.B. & Węgrzynowicz, Piotr (1998): Generic catalogue and taxonomic status of Languriidae (Cucujoidea). Ann.Zool. 48(3/4): 221-243. PDF fulltext
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Loberus LeConte, 1861". BioLib. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
Further reading
[edit]- Leschen, Richard A. B. (2003). Erotylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) phylogeny and review. Fauna of New Zealand. Vol. 47. Manaaki Whenua Press. ISBN 978-0-478-09350-6. ISSN 0111-5383.
- Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2007). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 4: Elateroidea - Derodontoidea - Bostrichoidea - Lymexyloidea - Cleroidea - Cucujoidea. Apollo Books. ISBN 978-8788757675.