Xylophilus

Mannerheim, 1823

Species Guides

Xylophilus is a of beetles in the Eucnemidae, first described by Mannerheim in 1823. The genus belongs to the tribe Xylobiini within the Melasinae. Eucnemidae, commonly known as false click beetles, are a family of elateroid beetles characterized by larvae that develop in decaying wood. The genus name Xylophilus (from Greek xylon "wood" and philos "loving") reflects an association with woody substrates. The name Xylophilus is also used for a bacterial genus (Willems et al. 1987), but this record refers to the genus.

Xylophilus crassicornis by no rights reserved, uploaded by Nick Bédard. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Xylophilus: //zaɪˈlɒfɪləs//

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Images

Habitat

Has been observed in association with decaying wood and forested environments, consistent with -level of Eucnemidae.

Misconceptions

The name Xylophilus is shared between this and a bacterial genus (Xylophilus ampelinus, cause of grapevine bacterial blight). These are unrelated —one is an insect, the other a proteobacterium. Care must be taken to distinguish Xylophilus (Mannerheim, 1823) in Coleoptera from Xylophilus (Willems et al. 1987) in Betaproteobacteria.

More Details

Taxonomic authority conflict

Two distinct share the name Xylophilus with different authorities: Xylophilus Mannerheim, 1823 (beetles, Eucnemidae) and Xylophilus Willems et al., 1987 (bacteria, Burkholderiales). These are homonyms under different nomenclatural codes (Zoological vs. Bacteriological).

Data limitations

-level information for Xylophilus beetles is sparse in accessible literature. Most sources conflate or confuse the bacterial and uses of the name. The 16 iNaturalist observations for this provide limited verifiable biological detail.