General overview
|
The members of this family, especially those of the subfamily Anaspidinae, may easily be confused with members of the
Mordellidae. These two families share a long and relatively thin
body,
with a smooth transition from elytra to thoracic shield, and a pointed
end of the abdomen (blunt only in the genus Scraptia). However,
scraptiids lack the drawn out "sting" of
the tergite of the last abdominal segment, that is typical for most
mordellids
("pygidial thorn"). Because of the similarities, the majority of the
Scraptiidae have previously been regarded as a subfamily "Anaspidinae"
of the Mordellidae, but currently both groups are considered as separate monophyletic groups at family rank.
|
Morphology
|
No information has been entered yet.
|
Biology
|
The
larvae live under tree bark and in rotting wood. Their biology is
incompletely known. The imagines are often found on flowers or flowering
trees and shrubs. The majority of species is very thermophile; many
species only appear at midsummer and only in constantly warm areas.
|
Systematics
|
Previously,
the species of Anaspis and allies were classified as members of the
Mordellidae. Currently, however, the anaspidids are regarded as closely
related to the Scraptiidae. Therefore they are now considered as
subfamily Anaspidinae of a larger monophyletic family Scraptiidae.
|
|
|
