- Phengodidae
Taxobox
name = Phengodidae
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Arthropod a
classis =Insect a
ordo = Coleoptera
familia = Phengodidae
familia_authority = LeConte, 1861
subdivision_ranks =Genera
subdivision = Several, see text
synonyms =Telegeusidae Leng, 1920The
beetle family Phengodidae is known also as glowworm beetles, whoselarva e are known asglowworm s. The females andlarva e have bioluminescent organs. They occur throughout theNew World from extreme southernCanada toChile . The familyRhagophthalmidae , an Old World group, used to be included in the Phengodidae.Larval and
larviform female glowworms arepredator s, feeding onmillipede s and otherarthropod s occurring insoil andlitter . The winged males, which are often attracted to lights at night, are short-lived and probably do not feed. Females are much larger than the males and are completely larviform. Males may be luminescent, but females and larvae have a series of luminescent organs on trunk segments which emit yellow or green light, and sometimes an additional head organ which emits red light, as inrailroad worm s.This family is distinct from the fireflies (family
Lampyridae ), which may also be called "glow-worms" in its larval stage. It also apparently includes the long-lipped beetles, which are only differentiated from phengodids by the unusual modifications of their mouthparts – it appears that Phengodidae isparaphyletic if the long-lipped beetles were treated as a family Telegeusidae.Genera
*"Acladocera "
*"Adendrocera "
*"Brasilocerus "
*"Cenophengus "
*"Cephalophrixothorax "
*"Decamastinocerus "
*"Distremocephalus "
*"Eurymastinocerus "
*"Euryognathus "
*"Euryopa "
*"Howdenia "
*"Mastinocerus "
*"Mastinomorphus "
*"Mastinowittmerus "
*"Microphengodes "
*"Neophengus "
*"Nephromma "
*"Oxymastinocerus "
*"Paramastinocerus "
*"Paraptorthodius "
*"Penicillophorus "
*"Phengodes "
*"Phrixothrix "
*"Pseudomastinocerus "
*"Pseudophengodes "
*"Ptorthodiellus "
*"Ptorthodius "
*"Spangleriella "
*"Steneuryopa "
*"Stenocladius "
*"Stenophrixothrix "
*"Taximastinocerus "
*"Zarhipis "
*"Pseudotelegeusis "
*"Telegeusis "References
* Sean T. O'Keefe, "Phengodidae", in
Ross H. Arnett, Jr. andMichael C. Thomas , "American Beetles " (CRC Press, 2002), vol. 2External links
* [http://delta-intkey.com/elateria/www/phen.htm Phengodidae] in [http://delta-intkey.com/elateria/ J. F. Lawrence, A. M. Hastings, M. J. Dallwitz, T. A. Paine and E. J. Zurcher (2000 onwards). Elateriformia (Coleoptera): descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval for families and sub-families.]
* [http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/beetles/glow-worms.htm glow-worms] on theUF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
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