Featherwing[ed] Beetles

Ptiliidae

Classification

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Staphylinoidea
Family: Ptiliidae

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Ptiliidae: //ˈtɪli.aɪdiː//

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Summary

Ptiliidae, known as featherwing beetles, are a family of very tiny beetles characterized by their unique feathery hindwings and highly reduced body features. They are highly diverse, with a significant number of undiscovered taxa likely present.

Physical Characteristics

Ptiliidae contains the smallest known beetles, ranging in size from 0.3 to 4.0 millimeters. Their weight is approximately 0.4 milligrams. The hindwings are reduced to thin, feathery appendages.

Identification Tips

Many species exhibit striking polymorphism, with two forms: a normal morph with well-developed eyes, wings, and body pigmentation, and a vestigial morph lacking these features. The vestigial morph is more common, comprising 90% or more of individuals.

Habitat

They inhabit moist organic materials, including leaf litter, decaying wood, compost, tree holes, fungi, seaweed, dung, and under bark.

Distribution

Ptiliidae are widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions of the world.

Diet

Adults and larvae feed on molds, fungi, and organic detritus, including spores and hyphae of fungi.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of Ptiliidae is short, with an egg-adult time of 32-45 days observed in some species. Reproduction occurs continuously under favorable conditions, with larvae found alongside teneral and hardened adults at different times of the year.

Reproduction

Only one egg can be accommodated and matured at a time in the abdomen of the female, with eggs being nearly half the body length of the female. Thelytokous parthenogenesis occurs in several species, resulting in female-only populations.

Ecosystem Role

They play a role as decomposers in their ecosystems by feeding on fungi and organic matter.

Evolution

Fossil records of Ptiliidae date back to the Oligocene (around 30 million years ago), with earlier specimens found in Eocene and Cretaceous amber.