Mezium

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Coleopterida
Ordo: Coleoptera
Subordo: Polyphaga
Infraordo: Bostrichiformia
Superfamilia: Bostrichoidea

Familia: Ptinidae
Subfamilia: Gibbiinae
Genus: Mezium
Species (14): M. affine – M. africanum – M. americanum – M. andreaei – M. erinaceus – M. giganteum – M. glabrum – M. gracilicorne – M. horridum – M. namibiensis – M. pseudafricanum – M. pseudamericanum – M. setosum – M. sulcatum

Check: M. natalense
Name

Mezium Samouelle, 1819
References

Bellés, X. 1985: Sistematica, filogenia y biogeografia de la subfamilia Gibbiinae (Coleoptera: Ptinidae). Treballs del Museu de Zoologia, 3: 1–95. PDF

Mezium is a genus of beetles in the subfamily Ptininae, the spider beetles. It is distributed throughout most of the world. There are two centers of distribution: an area extending from the Iberian Peninsula to Morocco, including the Canary Islands; and an area extending through central and southern Africa. Several species are recently described African endemics.[1] They are most common in coastal areas, and in regions with a Mediterranean climate.[1]

Their most common natural habitat type is caves, where they feed on animal feces, especially bat guano. They are adaptable to human-made structures such as barns and chicken coops.[1]

Species include:[1][2]

Mezium affine – shiny spider beetle
Mezium africanum
Mezium americanum – American spider beetle, black spider beetle
Mezium andreaei
Mezium giganteum
Mezium glabrum
Mezium gracilicorne
Mezium horridum
Mezium namibiensis
Mezium pseudafricanum
Mezium pseudamericanum
Mezium setosum
Mezium sulcatum

References

Borowski, J. (2009). The spider beetles of the continental Africa (Coleoptera: Ptinidae). Part I – Genus Mezium Curtis. Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine Studies and Reports of District Museum Pargue-East, Taxonomical Series 5, 1-10.
Mezium. Fauna Europaea.