File: <cucujid.htm> [For teaching purposes only; do not review, quote or abstract] Terminology <Principal Natural Enemy Groups>

COLEOPTERA, Cucujidae (= Passandridae)

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Prostomidae (= Passandridae).-- The Prostomidae are often included with the Cucujidae. Several species of this small group have the entomophagous feeding habit, which has developed in some cases into an obligate parasitism. Catogenus rufus F. larvae are true external parasitoids of the pupae of certain cerambycid borers and of those of the braconid parasitoids attacking the same hosts (Fiske 1905). Scalidia is also known to develop parasitically (Clausen 1940/62)

These "flat bark beetles" show diverse food habits, and many species live in grain and grain products. The cosmopolitan Cryptolestes ferrugineus Steph. utilizes whole or milled grain, but sometimes it attacks other insects or is a scavenger (Sheppard 1936). A high oviposition rate was found in females that had fed only on the eggs of the angoumois grain moth. Larval development was most rapid when insect food was available. Many species are completely predaceous and attack wood-inhabiting Coleoptera, mainly Scolytoidea, while some are also phytophagous. Some species feed on termites (Clausen 1940/62) and mites. Species of Catogenus are parasitic in Braconidae (Borror et al. 1981).

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