Thanerocleridae

Thanerocleridae is a family of beetles belonging to the superfamily Cleroidea. It was formerly considered a subfamily of Cleridae, but was recently elevated to the rank of family.^[1] The family has 36 living species in 10 genera, which are found globally, mostly in low-latitude tropical regions, though the genus Zenodosus is found in temperate North America. Thaneroclerid species are likely all predatory both in adult and larval stages. They target small fungus and wood associated beetles, and are generally found in places where such beetles are likely to be found, typically tree associated habitats such as under bark, though some species occur in other locations such as termite nests.^[2]

Thanerocleridae Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Specimen of Zenodosus sanguineus observed in Washington D.C.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Superfamily:	Cleroidea
Family:	Thanerocleridae Chapin, 1924
Subfamilies
Thaneroclerinae Chapin, 1924 Zenodosinae Kolibáč, 1992

Taxonomy

• Thaneroclerinae Chapin, 1924
  • Cleridopsis Champion, 1913
  • Compactoclerus Pic, 1939
  • Cyrtinoclerus Chapin, 1924
  • Isoclerus Lewis, 1892
  • Meprinogenus Kolibáč, 1992
  • Neoclerus Lewis, 1892
  • Onerunka Kolibáč
  • Thaneroclerus Lefebvre, 1838
  • Viticlerus Miyatake
• Zenodosinae Kolibáč, 1992
  • Zenodosus Wolcott, 1910
  • †Archaeozenodosus Yu & Kolibac, 2017 Burmese amber, Myanmar Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
  • †Cretozenodosus Cai & Huang, 2018 Burmese amber, Myanmar Cenomanian
  • †Mesozenodosus Tihelka et al., 2020 Charentese amber, France, Cenomanian
  • †Thanerosus Peris & Kolibáč, 2022 Burmese amber, Myanmar Cenomanian

References

1. Bouchard, Patrice; Bousquet, Yves; Davies, Anthony E.; Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A.; et al. (2011). "Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta)". ZooKeys (88): 1–972. doi:10.3897/zookeys.88.807. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 3088472. PMID 21594053.
2. Peris, David; Mähler, Bastian; Kolibáč, Jiří (2022-05-06). "Review of the family Thanerocleridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea) and the description of Thanerosus gen. nov. from Cretaceous amber using micro-CT scanning". Insects. 13 (5): 438. doi:10.3390/insects13050438. ISSN 2075-4450. PMC 9147608. PMID 35621774.

Further reading

• Bouchard, P.; Bousquet, Y.; Davies, A.; Sikes, D. (2013). "Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska". ZooKeys (360): 1–44. doi:10.3897/zookeys.360.4742. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 3867111. PMID 24363590.
• Crotch, G.R. (1873). Check list of the Coleoptera of America, north of Mexico. Naturalists' Agency. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.38811. ISBN 0665070772.
• LeConte, J.L. (1861). Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Vol. 3. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.38459. ISBN 0665100558.