Микромальтус слабый: Биология и Распространение

Species of beetle
Speciesbox
| fossil range =
| image = Micromalthus debilis. jpg
| image caption = "Ghost adult" stage
| image upright = 0.75
| image2 = Micromalthus debilis larva. png
| image2 caption = Larval stage
| display parents = 4
| grandparent authority = Barber, 1913
| parent authority = LeConte, 1878
| taxon = Micromalthus debilis
| authority = LeConte, 1878
| synonyms ref = found telephone pole beetles in a survey of the indoor arthropod fauna in 50 houses located in and around Raleigh, North Carolina. A recent survey found that the species had spread to every continent except Australia. With finds in South Africa, Hong Kong, Belize, Cuba, Brazil, Japan, Hawaii, Italy and Austria, the dispersal is likely connected to the timber trade.

Classification of M. debilis was historically controversial and unsettled. The species, first reported by John Lawrence LeConte in 1878, was long considered one of the Polyphaga, and placed in the Lymexylidae or Telegeusidae, or as a family within the Cantharoidea. However, characteristics of larvae, wings, and male genitalia show that it is in the suborder Archostemata, where it has been placed since 1999.

Upon being birthed live, the larva emerges as a minute white creature with long, slender legs that resemble the carabid type. This stage is primarily focused on migration, with the young larvae crawling away from the location of their birth to find new areas within their habitat. During this phase, they may consume the remains of their mother before migration. After a period of wandering, the larvae begin to burrow into wood or other suitable substrates again. They feed minimally during this time and undergo their first molt, transforming into a legless form that resembles the larva of cerambycid beetles. This stage is characterized by the development of an inconspicuous anal armature. Additional molts occur in this form, likely to accommodate head growth and overall body development. The larvae continue to bore through wood, packing their galleries with dust as they progress. The color of their bodies may darken due to the accumulation of food in their alimentary tract. As the larvae near maturity, the eggs in the ovaries of what will become the paedogenetic form become visible. At this stage, the larvae reverse their position in the gallery, construct a cell, and enter an aestivation phase. During aestivation, their bodies gradually turn white as they consume all available food in their system. Paedogenesis is the process by larvae reproduce by giving birth to more larvae without the production of adults and is a process exclusive to females. While males adults only develop from uni oviparous paedogenetic females, adult females only develop from cerambycoid paedogenetic females. A close relationship between Ommatidae and Micromalthidae is supported by several morphological characters, including those of the mandibles and male genitalia. A close relationship to the enigmatic family Crowsoniellidae has been suggested by some sources. The oldest record of Micromalthidae is Archaeomalthus from the Upper Permian of Russia around 252 million years old, which is morphologically similar in many respects to Micromalthus including an only weakly sclerotised body. Several other fossil genera of the family are known including Cretomalthus, known from a larva found in Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Lebanese amber, as well as Protomalthus from the mid Cretaceous (Albian Cenomanian) Burmese amber of Myanmar. Fossils of Micromalthus are known from the Miocene aged Dominican amber (adults and larvae, which were found to not be distinguishable from the living species) and Mexican amber (larvae), the late Eocene aged Rovno amber of Ukraine (Micromalthus priabonicus), and the early Eocene (Ypresian) aged Oise amber of France (Micromalthus eocenicus). A possible specimen of Micromalthus is known from Burmese amber, but the poor preservation of the specimen makes the assignment tentantive. In the 1930s, telephone pole beetle larvae were reported as the perpetrators of a gold mine infestation in the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa. The primary timbers employed in the mines, including Acacia, Eucalyptus, and Pinus species, are all susceptible to infestation, particularly in conditions with ample moisture. Heavy infestations were noted in aged timbers within poorly ventilated shafts, especially in environments with temperatures ranging from 88 to 93°F. The presence of stagnant or running water may cause even further decay, sometimes resulting in complete pulverization.