Coleoptera, beetles in the Endomychidae, Lucanidae and Curculionidae families

	return the the main beetle page for beetle fast facts, diagram of adult beetle body, list of beetles featured. Endomychidae family.
There are 6 species of beetle in this family in Britain. They are all related to, and resemble ladybirds/ladybugs. The adults live on fungus, especially puff balls and moulds. Endomychus coccineus on the left and right, is 4 - 6 mm long as an adult, but not as convex as a ladybird, and its antennae are different. It is fairly common in Britain, especially near woodlands and fungus-infested wood, giving it its common name, the Fungus beetle.

Lucanidae Family, Stag beetles There are around 1300 species of stag beetle worldwide. They get their name because the massive mandibles of the male (see below) resemble the antlers of a stag, and are used in a similar fashion - for defence and resolving disputes over females. They have elbowed antennae. The males are always larger than the females. They range in size from 0.6 - 8.5 cm. The adults are nocturnal and either do not feed, or feed only on fluids such as nectar. The Lucanidae larva (right) live in the root stock of deciduous trees especially oak, ash, beech elm and hawthorn, and can take 5 years to develop. Stag beetle, Lucanus cervus The stag beetle (below) is now rare. It is around 5 cm long, and flies at dusk in July making a whirring sound with its wings just before take off and landing. Its flight speed has been recorded at 1.5 metres per second. Compare this with other insects. At the end of

summer the adult female beetle will search for some suitable dead wood in which to lay her eggs. The larvae eat rotting wood. Lucanus lunifer, below. A stag beetle is from India

Above an Indian stag beetle, Lucanus lunifer

Curculionidae Family

There are over 50 000 species world wide, 1 200 in Europe, and 416 in Britain. Many are considered pests, e.g. the vine weevil, left, the granary weevil (below), the cotton boll weevil, the grain weevil and rice weevil. All Curculionids are vegetarian, and most lay their eggs inside or on their foodplant. Most adults have the characteristic snout (also called the rostrum) with jaws at the end, and elbowed, clubbed antennae extending from the snout (see left and below) usually with 11 segments. Adults range in length from 1 - 40 mm. The larvae (below right) generally live in plants are are usually short, round, fleshy, legless and milky coloured. The adults generally feed on the outside of plants. Many are decorated with colourful scales which tend to rub off with age.

On the left is Otiorhynchus sulcatus, the vine weevil. It belongs to the Curculionidae family. The adults are dull black with small patches of dirty yellow on the elytra. The adults are flightless. The adults range in size from 8.0 - 10.5 mm. It is slow moving and usually active after dark. Sometimes an adult will be found on the inside of a closed window when you get up in the morning. This probably means that you have an infested indoor pot plant.

If you re-pot the plant you may find 10s - 100- of fat grubs. Don't throw them out. Put them in a dish and leave tem out for the blackbirds - they love them! The larvae feed below the soil surface and the adults eat the leaves. Most vine weevils are females and they can reproduce parthenogenetically. the eggs are usually laid on the soil surface. Ground beetles are a major predator, as are commercially available nematodes.

On the left is Phyllobious sp. another weevil. Like many weevils it is covered in colourful scales. These can wear off with age leaving black patches.

On the right is an adult granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius. It is a pest of stored grain, and its body length is 2.3 - 3.5 mm. Adults emerge from a grain, then mate - they cannot fly so a mate is found by walking. The female drills a hole in a grain and lays a single egg, then plugs up the hole. The egg hatches and the larva begins to eat its way through the grain. It pupates inside the grain, and then emerges as an adult to start the cycle again. A female can lay up to 250 eggs at a rate of 2 - 3 a day. The length of life cycle depends on temperature, but is 30 - 40 days in summer and 120 - 150 days in winter.

Hylobius abietis, the Pine weevil, Large pine weevil

On the left is an adult Pine weevil, also sometimes called the Large pine weevil. The body length is from 8 - 14 mm. It is common in Scotland, but less common in England. Adults are seen mainly from April to June. Females lay eggs on pine and spruce roots, although they can also eat larch. The larvae feed on the inner bark and then the sap wood, and pupate inside the tree. The adults prefer trees less than 6 years old, and can cause the death of a young tree, so are considered a pest.

The photograph on the right is a close-up showing the long, yellow, hair-like scales on the elytra.