Brachypsectridae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Elateriformia
Superfamilia: Elateroidea

Familia: Brachypsectridae
Genera: Brachypsectra

[list of genera after Costa et al. (2006)]
Name

Brachypsectridae LeConte & Horn, 1883
References
Primary references

LeConte, J.L. & Horn, G.H. 1883. Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 26(507): i–xxvii + 1–567. BHL. Reference page.

Additional references

Costa, C.; Vanin, S.A.; Lawrence, J.F.; Ide, S.; Branham, M.A. 2006: Review of the family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 99: 409–432. PDF
Costa, C.; Vanin, S.A.; Lawrence, J.F.; Ide, S.; Branham, M.A. 2010: 4.3. Brachypsectridae Horn, 1881. Pp. 47-54 in: Leschen, R.A.B.; Beutel, R.G.; Lawrence, J.F. (volume eds.) Coleoptera, beetles. Volume 2: Morphology and systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim). In: Kristensen, N.P. & Beutel, R.G. (eds.) Handbook of zoology. A natural history of the phyla of the animal kingdom. Volume IV. Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 38. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110190753 ISBN 9783110190755
Hájek, J. 2010: Brachypsectra kadleci sp. nov. from western Iran - the first Palaearctic member of the family Brachypsectridae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Elateriformia). Annales zoologici, 60: 29–33. ISSN: 0003-4541 DOI: 10.3161/000345410X499498

Links

Brachypsectridae in SYNOPSIS OF THE DESCRIBED COLEOPTERA OF THE WORLD

Vernacular names
English: Texas beetles
русский: Брахипсектриды

The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles.[1] There are only two extant genera, Brachypsectra and Asiopsectra. The type species, Brachypsectra fulva (LeConte, 1874), occurs in North America. Other species in the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. Two other extant and fossil species have been described from the Dominican Republic.[2] While formerly considered monogeneric, in 2016 Asiopsectra was described from specimens found in Iran and Tajikistan.[3] Two extinct genera, Vetubrachypsectra and Hongipsectra, known from adults, and a larval genus, Cretopsectra are known from Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.[4][5][6]

Taxonomy

The family is somewhat enigmatic since the discovery and description of the first species, Brachypsectra fulva. This was originally included in the family Dascillidae, but was later placed in the new family Brachypsectridae by Horn (1881).[7]
Description

Members of this family are small (4–8 mm), flattened, relatively soft-bodied, brown or yellow beetles with large eyes. The elytra are indistinctly striated and the antennae form a club.[8]

The larvae are distinctive being described by Gordon Floyd Ferris in 1927 and Blair in 1930 as being "entomological enigmas". They were not associated with the adult beetles until 25 years after their discovery by Barber in 1905. They are ovate and flattened and have moderately long, lateral lobes lined with elongated feathery lobules on all the thoracic segments and the first eight abdominal segments. The head and the posterior abdominal segments are relatively small and dark-coloured.[8]
Species

Brachypsectra fulva LeConte - North America
Brachypsectra fuscula Blair - Singapore
Brachypsectra lampyroides Blair - south India
Brachypsectra moronei Branham - found fossilised in amber in the Dominican Republic
Brachypsectra vivafosile Woodruff - Dominican Republic
Brachypsectra sp. - Australia[8]

References

Arnett, R.H., Jr. 1962. The beetles of the United States. A manual for identification. Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. xi + 1055 pp. Brachypsectridae: p. 529-530; fig. 1.521.
Costa, C.; Vanin, S.A.; Lawrence, J.F.; Ide, S.; Branham, M.A. 2006. Review of the family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 99: 409-432.
Kovalev, Alexey V.; Kirejtshuk, Alexander G. (2016-06-16). "Asiopsectra gen. n., a second genus of the family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea) from the Palaearctic Region". Insect Systematics & Evolution. 47 (3): 195–208. doi:10.1163/1876312X-47022140. ISSN 1399-560X.
Qu, Tianquan; Yin, Ziwei; Huang, Diying; Cai, Chenyang (February 2020). "First Mesozoic brachypsectrid beetles in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Brachypsectridae)". Cretaceous Research. 106: 104190. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.07.020.
Zhao, Xianye; Zhao, Xiangdong; Jarzembowski, Edmund; Tian, Yuan; Chen, Lei (September 2020). "The first record of brachypsectrid larva from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Polyphaga)". Cretaceous Research. 113: 104493. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104493.
Tihelka, Erik; Huang, Diying; Cai, Chenyang (2019-10-31). "Diverse Texas beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Brachypsectridae) in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber: sexual dimorphism and palaeoecology". Palaeoentomology. 2 (5): 523–531. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.5.16. ISSN 2624-2834.
BugGuide
Review of the Family Brachypsectridae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea)[permanent dead link]