Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

Fernandez's Net-wing Beetle

Lycus fernandezi Dugés

Family Lycidae, Subfamily Lycinae, Tribe Lycini

Lycids of the genus Lycus have fronts elongated into beaks (White, 1983)

Dog Canyon, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
Otero County, New Mexico
July 24, 2006 (Bob Barber)

There were large numbers of these feeding on the tiny blossoms of Aloysia wrightii (Oreganillo)

Texas County Records for Lycus fernandezi

County Record Data from E.G. Riley, Sept. 2006

Range: Arizona to Texas, south to Mexico (Blackwelder, 1944-57)

Biology:

Despite anecdotal accounts that larvae are carnivores, probably most, if not all, feed on myxomycetes or metabolic products of fungi (Lawrence 1982). Lycus larvae may be seen moving over open ground in the early evening. Adult lycids eat nectar and honeydew. Numerous species aggregate in one or their life stages (Eisner & Kafatos 1962). Both larvae and adults are distasteful and are often aposematically colored.

Similar Species: There are 11 species of Lycus north of Mexico from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas (Arnett et al, 2002).

Texas Taxa:

Lycus fernandezi Dugés
Lycus sanguineus (Gorham)
Lycus simulans (Schaeffer)

Photos: Lycus sp. - A pair of net-winged beetles in copula - Alex Wild

Stamps:

Lycus trabeatus - 1993 - Insect Stamps of Ethiopia
Lycus latissimus - 1953 - Insect Stamps of Portuguese Guinea

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press, Boca Raton. 861 pp.

Blackwelder, R. E. 1944-57. Checklist of the Coleopterous Insects of Mexico, Central America, The West Indies, and South America, Parts 1-6. United States National Museum, Bulletin 185. Washington, D.C. xii + 1492 pp.

Bocak, L. & Matsuda, K. 2003. Review of the immature stages of the family Lycidae (Insecta: Coleoptera). Journal of Natural History, 37: 1463-1507.

Eisner, T. & F.C. Kafatos. 1962. Defense mechanisms of arthropods. X. A pheromone promoting aggregation in an aposematic distasteful insect. Psyche 69, 53-61.

Eisner, T., F.C. Kafatos, & E.G. Linsley, 1962. Lycid Predation by Mimetic Adult Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Evolution, 16(3): 316-324.

Green, J.W. 1949. The Lycidae of the United States and Canada. I. The Tribe Lycini (Coleoptera). Trans. Amer. Entom. Soc. 75:53-70.

Lawrence, J.F. 1982. Coleoptera. pp. 482-553 In: Parker, S.P. (editor) Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms, Volume 2. McGraw Hill. New York, NY.