Derodontidae

Derodontidae
Derodontidae
Laricobius erichsoni from Belgium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Bostrichiformia
Superfamily: Derodontoidea
Family: Derodontidae
LeConte, 1861
Genera

Derodontus
Laricobius
Nothoderodontus
Peltastica

Derodontidae is a family of beetles, in its own superfamily, Derodontoidea, sometimes known as tooth-necked fungus beetles. There are 38 species in 4 genera and 3 subfamilies. Beetles of this family are small, between 2 and 6 mm in length, with spiny margins on their pronotum (part of the thorax) that give them their name. The genus, Laricobius, lacks these spines. They have two ocelli on the top of their heads.

They are related to the Bostrichoidea, which includes the death watch beetles, skin beetles, powder-post beetles and other subgroups.

Some species feed on slime molds, but the larvae and adults of the genus Laricobius are predators of woolly adelgids which attack conifers, and species of this genus are used as biological control agents in the United States for control of balsam woolly adegid and hemlock woolly adelgid.

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