The probe - the mysterious inhabitant of ant nests

Small insects find various ways to survive in harsh wildlife. The sting beetle learned to cohabit with ants. It hides its own smell and disguises itself as ant brood. In the nest of beetles they feed and guard as their own larvae. Some species secretly live in forest litter and prey on ticks, foottails and other invertebrates.

Subfamily Description

Stingflies (Pselaphinae) are a subfamily of the staphylinids family (Staphylinidae). It includes about 10 thousand species. The size of the largest insects does not exceed 5-6 mm, small specimens 0.5-3 mm. The greatest variety of insects is found in tropical forests, ¾ of them are still not described by scientists. The characteristic color of the body is brown, red, less often black. Elytra shortened, reach 4–6 abdominal sternitis. The body shape is close to cylindrical, the abdomen is slightly mobile, insects can not lift it. The foot consists of three segments, one claw.

Information. Among the tentacles living in Russia, the smallest is Kuriporus creator. The size of the beetle is 0.7 mm; it is found in the Kuril Islands. A giant among Pselaphinae is a species of Kistneriella termitobia. Insects found in Africa grow to 7 mm.

The surface of the body is smooth, wrinkled, with micro-holes and hairs. The antennae are long, mobile. Consist of 6-11 segments, type filiform or club-shaped. In some species, the mace significantly thickens. The mandibular palps are short (1-2 segments) well developed.

Distribution area

Representatives of the subfamily Pselaphinae are found in all corners of the world. In North America, 710 species live, in Russia - 166, Australia - 579, Japan - 291.

Lifestyle

The lifestyle features of the palps are poorly understood. Most of the species found in forests, where insect colonies reach a high number. In the subfamily there are predatory free-living species and beetles that have chosen to live in ant nests. Predatory insects live in fallen leaves, rotten wood, caves or the upper layer of the earth. Ticks, nematodes, and nailstail become their prey. bugs are active in the daytime.

The preimaginal phases have been studied even worse; it is known that the development of beetles from an egg to an adult occurs quickly. Some species require several days, others 2-4 weeks. Eggs are white, laying in soil or rotting wood. The larvae are elongated, campodeoid. They feed on small invertebrates caught in the soil.

Classification

The subfamily carpenters is the second in the number of species and genera in the staphilinidae family. Until 1995, the group was described as an independent family of Pselaphidae. It consists of 6 over-tribes and 8 tribes:

Euplestini. A typical Trimium brevicorne species is common in Europe, China and North America.
Arnylliini. One of the members of the Awas group is a genus of small beetles of 10 species that lives in Southeast Asia, China. The largest representative of awas gigas is 5 mm. Distinctive features are an elongated occipital part and a stalked abdomen. The main color is brown, the legs are red. The view was described in 2015 by Chinese scientists. insects were found while studying an ant colony.
Batrisini One of the genera Bartisus is found in the Palaearctic and the Far East. Length 3-4 mm; pronotum 3 fossae and wrinkles. Body color is brown, head and chest are darker than other areas.
Goniacerini.Typical representatives of Bryaxis are body size 2 mm, long maxillary palps. They live in caves and forest litter. The group has 250 species. The species Batrisus sibiricus is red-brown in color. Short elytra punctate, black spines at edge of eyes. The males have bent hips on the middle pair of limbs. Antennae covered with short hairs. Beetles live in nests of ants, the distribution area is Siberia, the Far East, China and Korea.
Pselaphini Peckiella podocarpus, a predatory beetle 1.5 mm in size, belongs to the group. Lives in Australia.
Clavigerini. The genus Eyeless (Claviger) is myrmecophilous insects living with Lasius ants. The eyeless beetle is completely dependent on ants, it is deprived of the organs of vision and the ability to fly. There are 4 species in Russia. A typical representative of the genus Eyeless yellow (Claviger testaceus) or mace. The size of adults is 2-2.5 mm. The head is narrow, the antennae are club-shaped, the last of 6 segments strongly thickened. The abdomen consists of 5 segments. The wings are reduced. The integument is shiny, reddish-brown. It lives in Russia (North Caucasus), Georgia. Azerbaijan, the Baltic states, Belarus.

Faronini Among the characteristic representatives of the genus Sagola, uniting 140 species of short-winged beetles. The main part lives in New Zealand. Body size 1-4 mm, brown color. The antennae do not have a pronounced mace. Settled in rotten wood and forest litter. The genus Sonoma consists of 60 species. It is found in North America from Alaska to California. The body of the beetle is tan, size 2-3 mm. Antennae long, 11-segmented, ending with a mace.
Tyrini - the nominal Lasinus group includes 10 species living in Asia (China, Vietnam, Korea, the Kuril Islands of Russia). The length of the imago is 2.8-3.8 mm. The color is red-brown. The limbs are thin, the mace of the scabs is 3-segmented.

Mirmecophilia

Some groups of palps, for example, clavigers (Claviger) live in close symbiosis with red ants. Eyeless bugs get nourishment and protection in the nest. In case of a threat, worker ants carry their pupae and eyeless into the underground passages. On the body of beetles there are trichomes - hair bundles connected by glands. The secreted secret attracts ants, they lick wet hairs. Ants, in turn, put food into the mouth of blind beetles.

The number of moths in natural biocenoses is quite large. Despite their small size, they play a significant role in the natural cycle of substances.