Subfamily CERATOCANTHINAE

Cyphopisthes descarpentriesi Paulian, 1977

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Introduction

The Ceratocanthidae (=Acanthoceridae) were widely considered as a separate family of the Scarabaeoidea and appeared to be related to the Hybosoridae and Ochodaeidae (Lawrence & Newton 1982), and the Trogidae (Crowson 1955). The family is now considered to be a subfamily of Hybosoridae. Ceratocanthinae are found in the tropics and subtropics of the world and include about 20 genera and 200 species (Lawrence 1982).

The Australian fauna currently comprises seven species (Ballerio 2013), all in Queensland, in the genera Cyphopisthes Gestro and Pterorthochaetes Gestro, both of which are diverse in Papua New Guinea and the Oriental Region (Paulian 1978).

Gestro (1899) described all the then known Australian species in a review of the world fauna and Paulian (1977) revised the Australian fauna and redescribed these species. Ballerio (2013) described four further species, two in each genus. The Australian species are poorly collected and are represented by relatively few specimens in museum collections.

BIOLOGY
The biology of this group is poorly known although both the adults and larvae have been collected under bark (Lawrence 1982). Elsewhere, adults have also been extracted from leaf litter and dung-baited pitfall traps. Ritcher (1958) stated that the larvae of African species feed on rotting wood. The adults and larvae of Cyphopisthes descarpentriesi Paulian have been taken in the galleries of the termite species, Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt. Termite associations are known in other extralimital ceratocanthid species but there are indications that they are not highly integrated into termite societies (Kistner 1982).

Diagnosis

These beetles are characterised by having a strongly convex body that can be rolled into a pill-shaped form. They are usually small sized, most often less than 5 mm, dark, and the head, pronotum and scutellum are comparatively large. The larvae can be separated from those of other scarabaeoids by the presence of 4-segmented antennae and a serrate labrum (Lawrence 1982).

Diagnosis References

Lawrence, J.F. 1982. Coleoptera. pp. 482-553 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw Hill Vol. 2 vii 1232 pp.

General References

Ballerio, A. 2013. Revision of the Australian Ceratocanthinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Hybosoridae). ZooKeys 339: 67–91

Crowson, R.A. 1955. The Natural Classification of the Families of Coleoptera. London : Nathaniel Lloyd & Co. 187 pp.

Gestro, R. 1899. Sopra alcune forme di Acanthocerini. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genova 39: 451-498

Kistner, D.H. 1982. The Social Insects' Bestiary. pp. 1-244 in Hermann, H.R. (ed.). Social Insects. New York : Academic Press Vol. III.

Lawrence, J.F. 1982. Coleoptera. pp. 482-553 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw Hill Vol. 2 vii 1232 pp.

Lawrence, J.F. & Newton, A.F., Jr 1982. Evolution and classification of beetles. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 13: 261-290

Paulian, R. 1977. The Australian Ceratocanthidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 16: 261-265

Paulian, R. 1978. Révision des Ceratocanthidae (Col. Scarabaeoidea). II — Les Espèces Orientales et Australiennes. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France ns 14: 479-514

Ritcher, P.O. 1958. Biology of Scarabaeidae. Annual Review of Entomology 3: 311-334

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