Biology:Melanophila acuminata

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Short description: Species of beetle

Melanophila acuminata
Melanophila acuminata (De Geer, 1774) (23201868195).png
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Buprestidae
Genus: Melanophila
Species:
M. acuminata
Binomial name
Melanophila acuminata
(De Geer, 1774)
Synonyms[1]
  • Melanophila opaca Melanophila obscurata
  • Melanophila immaculata Melanophila acuta
  • (Gmelin, 1790) Marquet, 1870
  • Mannerheim, 1837 LeConte, 1860
  • Melanophila longipes Melanophila appendiculata
  • (Say, 1823) Lewis, 1893
  • Melanophila anthaxoides (Fabricius, 1792)
  • (Fabricius, 1792) Melanophila morio

Melanophila acuminata, known generally as the black fire beetle or fire bug, is a species of metallic wood-boring beetle in the family Buprestidae. It is found in the Caribbean, Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China), Central America, North America, and Southern Asia.[1][2][3] They get their common name due to the fact that they swarm freshly burned conifer trees, which they find using sensors on their thorax. Adults are black and 7–11 mm in length.[4]

Black fire beetle, Melanophila acuminata

It has been suggested that that fly is the pyrotocon, an insect said to be born from fire, of the Natural history by Pliny the Elder.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Melanophila acuminata Report". https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=809198. 
  2. "Melanophila acuminata". https://www.gbif.org/species/4431503. 
  3. Will, Kip; Gross, Joyce; Rubinoff, Daniel; Powell, Jerry A. (2020). Field Guide to California Insects. Oakland, California: University of California Press. pp. 219. ISBN 9780520288744. 
  4. "Le "pyrotocon" de Pline l'Ancien" by Emile Janssens, Latomus, T. 9, Fasc. 3, 1950, pp. 283–286.

Further reading

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q2254010 entry