I've Identified my bug!

May 8, 2011

Thanks to or whoever gave the site to the garden decomposers, I've

Identified my bug as " Feather-winged beetle " . Although they tend to make me a

little sick, my large bath in 1 cup of lysol produces these floating in the

water. They are from South America and eat fungus. They can be found in

termite nests. They have two teeth on their abdomine. When I do get spiders,

I've no doubt they are after the beetles. Under " images " go to this link to see

the beetle. Yellowish strips on abdomine;

1871B9BAA076C1734752769F456287E4F & first=0 & qpvt=feather-winged+beetle & FORM=IDFRIR

About the beetle:

djvu.txt

DYBAS: FEATHER-WING BEETLES 563

The other new genus, Termitopteryx, is also a member of the

pterycine group, but it is not closely related to the two previous

genera. It is particularly interesting in that it occurs with termites

of the primitive family Kalotermitidae from which few termitophiles

are recorded. For example, among the several hundred termitophi-

lous species known, no Staphylinidae are recorded in association

with this family of termites.

Little can be said about the special modifications of the Ptiliidae

for termitophily. The limuloid body form is a common modification

associated with termitophily or myrmecophily, as in the Staphy-

linidae, for example. Urotriainus and Pycnopteryx gen. nov. have

an especially compact, limuloid form and a relatively heavily

sclerotized body that is unusual among the few described pterycine

genera and may be significant. The highly polished surface, par-

ticularly of the head and pronotum, is distinctive. The abdomen

appears to be heavily spined in most of thp forms and is armed

with teeth at the apex in Pycnopteryx and Urotriainus. These

modifications, in aggregate, may possibly have some protective value.

" ... Abdomen (figs. 115, a, b; 117, a, rather heavily sclerotized (except for

tergites I-III, which are membranous); apex (tergites IX and X fused) armed with

two teeth that are curved upward in profile (fig. 115, 6); tergites IV-VIII each

with a moderately small spiracle and a paratergite on each side; tergite IV

with.. " .

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