Oh my goodness! Unless you are a Tree of Life developer, you really shouldn't be here. This page is part of our beta test site, where we develop new features for the ToL, often messing up a thing or two in the process. Please visit the official version of this page, which is available here.
Under Construction

Throscoptilium

Throscoptilium duryi

W. Eugene Hall
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Throscoptilium duryi habitus
Containing group: Nanosellini

Introduction

Throscoptilium is currently composed of one described species, T. duryi (Barber 1924, Dybas 1990), and is associated with the polypore fungus Phellinus gilvus (= Polyporus gilvus). Dybas (1976: 52) notes that though the adults are active on the upper and lower surface of the host fungus, "Unlike Nanosella and allies, adults of this genus do not crawl into the spore tubes - they are too broad to fit into tubes of this diameter."

The spermatheca, used to distinguish ptiliid species, is erroneously illustrated in Barber's paper, the distortion most likely an artifact of clearing the specimen with potassium hydroxide in preparation for mounting on a microscope slide.

Characteristics

Throscoptilium can be distinguished from other nanosellines by its stout form, which is widest at posterior angles of the pronotum. The mesosternal process somewhat resembles that of Suterina.

Dybas (1976) provides a description/illustration of the larva from specimens collected in Indiana. Dybas noted that when larvae enter into a spore tube head first, the exposed abdominal tip coloration resembles that of the fungus surface.

Geographic Distribution

The type locality for Throscoptilium duryi is listed as "near Cincinnati, Ohio" (Barber, 1924: 175). Dybas (1990) states the species occurs in the eastern United Sates.

Other Names for Throscoptilium duryi

References

Barber, H.S. 1924. New Ptiliidae related to the smallest known beetle. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 26(6): 167 - 178.

Dybas, H.S. 1990. Ptiliidae. in Soil Biology Guide, Daniel L. Dindail, editor. Wiley-Interscience, New York.

Dybas, H.S. 1976. The larval characters of featherwing and limulodid beetles and their family relationships in the Staphylinoidea (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae and Limulodidae). Fieldiana. Zoology. 70(3): 29 - 78.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Throscoptilium duryi habitus
Scientific Name Throscoptilium duryi
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1997
About This Page


University of Arizona

Page: Tree of Life Throscoptilium. Throscoptilium duryi. Authored by W. Eugene Hall. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Hall, W. Eugene. 1997. Throscoptilium. Throscoptilium duryi. Version 01 January 1997 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Throscoptilium_duryi/9653/1997.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Leaf Page.

Each ToL leaf page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a leaf at the tip of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a leaf and a branch of the Tree of Life is that a leaf cannot generally be further subdivided into subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Throscoptilium duryi

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top