Overview
Silvanids are common in leaf litter and under bark, where they feed primarily on dead plant material and fungi. Several species, including
Ahasverus advena
,
Cryptamorpha desjardinsi
,
Monanus concinnulus
,
Nausibius clavicornis
,
Oryzaephilus mercator
and
O. surinamensis
, are cosmopolitan pests of stored foodstuffs.
Description
Elongate, parallel-sided, more or less flattened, pubescent beetles with prognathous head, abruptly constricted posteriorly to form temples behind eyes, and pronotum often with projecting front angles and/or dentate or crenulate lateral margins. Fore coxal cavities visibly closed behind and tarsi with setose lobes below, except in the Uleiotini, which have a very long antennal scape (more than 5 times length of pedicel).
Larvae elongate, parallel-sided and lightly sclerotised, with broad head, long antennae and legs, reduced 9th abdominal segment, bearing a pair of slender urogomphi in most Uleiotinae, and well-developed and terminal 10th segment.
Distribution
The Australian Uleiotinae include
Dendrophagus australis
and several species of
Uleiota
, which occur under bark, a new genus (related to the New Zealand
Brontopriscus
) from North Qld, a few
Psammoecus
mainly from Qld, and a large number of
Cryptamorpha
(many of them wingless), which are common litter inhabitants, especially in drier areas. The Silvaninae include most of the introduced pests plus an endemic fauna including genera such as
Silvanus
,
Silvanolomus
,
Monanus
, and
Austronausibius
. The genera
Nepharis
and
Nepharinus
include symphiles in the nests of
Iridomyrmex
and
Crematogaster
. [Crowson 1973a; Halstead 1973, 1980; Pal
et al.
1984; Thomas 1984.]