Wood-decomposition
Guides
Acmaeodera parkeri
Acmaeodera parkeri is a species of metallic wood-boring beetle in the family Buprestidae, described by Cazier in 1940. The species occurs in Central America and North America, with records from the southwestern United States and Mexico. Adults have been observed visiting flowers of several plant species, including Allionia incarnata (creeping four o'clock), Talinum whitei (White's flameflower), and Evolvulus arizonicus (Arizona blue-eyes).
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hagedorni
Ambrosiodmus hagedorni is an ambrosia beetle in the weevil family Curculionidae, described by Wood & Bright in 1992. Like other members of its genus, it farms the white-rot decay fungus Flavodon ambrosius, a unique symbiont capable of true wood decomposition. This mutualism enables the beetle to colonize and persist in decaying wood over multiple generations, supporting larger colony sizes than typical ambrosia beetles. The species is known from Brazil and represents part of a distinctive beetle-fungus symbiosis that differs fundamentally from other ambrosia systems.
Lara avara
riffle beetle
Lara avara is a xylophagous riffle beetle in the family Elmidae. It inhabits freshwater streams in western North America, where larvae feed on submerged decaying wood. The life cycle spans 4–6 years, with extended larval development and brief adult emergence from May to August. The species contributes to aquatic wood decomposition through larval feeding and fecal production.
Pytho
dead log beetles, dead log bark beetles
Pytho is a small genus of saproxylic beetles in the family Pythidae, commonly known as dead log beetles or dead log bark beetles. The genus comprises approximately nine to ten described species distributed across the Holarctic region, recognized as typically boreal taxa. Species inhabit the cambial layer of dead trees, particularly conifers, where larvae feed on partially decomposed wood and bark. Several species have disjunct distributions spanning North America, Europe, and Japan, reflecting complex historical biogeographic patterns involving vicariance and dispersal across Beringia. Some species, such as P. abieticola, are considered relicts of primeval forests and are in decline across much of Central Europe.
Stictoleptura
Stictoleptura is a genus of longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) distributed across the Holarctic region, with species in Europe, Asia, and North America. The genus includes medium-sized beetles typically associated with broadleaved woodland habitats. The first genome sequence for the genus was published for Stictoleptura scutellata, a scarce species in Britain associated with ancient woodland and wood pasture.
Xylotopus par
Xylotopus par is an aquatic xylophagous midge in the family Chironomidae. The larvae colonize submerged wood substrates in freshwater streams, feeding on decaying wood. Populations exhibit plastic phenology, with development rates varying based on wood substrate quality—larvae in fresh, introduced wood can complete development in a single summer, while those in indigenous logs normally require a full year. The species has been studied for its unique bacterial associations in the larval midgut, where morphotypically uniform bacteria form a well-defined band in the posterior midgut's ectoperitrophic space.
Zootermopsis nevadensis nevadensis
damp-wood termite, Nevada dampwood termite
Zootermopsis nevadensis nevadensis is a lower termite subspecies inhabiting cooler coastal and higher elevation areas of the western United States. It lives entirely within damp wood and does not forage outside its gallery system. The species exhibits hemimetabolous development with multiple progressive juvenile instars that function as workers. These workers retain developmental plasticity, capable of differentiating into alates (winged reproductives), neotenic reproductives, or soldiers depending on colony needs. The subspecies possesses exceptionally high levels of DNA methylation compared to other insects, with methylation patterns more similar to non-insect invertebrates than to holometabolous insects.