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Ampedus

Ampedus is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are currently 461 recognized species of Ampedus beetles. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, but is found mostly in the Holarctic region, primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. The oldest known fossil from this genus was found in Eocene Baltic amber, estimated to be from 38.0 to 33.9 million years ago.

Natural history

Life cycle

Ampedus larvae burrow in rotting wood, pupating in mid-summer. The larvae feed on wood, with a preference for wood in more advanced stages of decay, and are also observed to be cannibalistic on other saproxylic larvae. They emerge as adults a few weeks later, but remain in the pupal cell through the following winter. Adult Ampedus beetles are thought to be diurnal. As adults, they are pollen-feeders, found in large numbers on flowers and vegetation. Ampedus females attract males for mating through chemical communication, using specialized pheromone glands, and lay their eggs in fallen wood to develop. Life cycle duration has been estimated to range from less than one year for smaller species, to up to 4–5 years for larger ones.

Habitat

Ampedus beetles are primarily found in temperate forests, with a preference for higher altitudes. They are generalists, with a single species often found in both hardwood and softwood, and on multiple different tree species. In North America, they are most commonly collected from deciduous forests in the East and from coniferous forests in the West.

Description

North American species of Ampedus beetles vary in size from 3-4mm, up to 13-14mm. Their coloration is variable, even within species, but they are often bicolored. They can be identified by their complete, downturned, rounded frontal carina, and excavated prosternal sutures. Like the larvae of other Elaterids (wireworms), Ampedus larvae are elongate, hard, and subcyclindrical. The ninth abdominal segment, which varies in shape between elaterid larvae, is rounded in this genus, ending in a sharp point. Ampedus larvae have pointed nasales, featuring a single tooth.

Taxonomy

The genus was originally named by the French entomologist Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean in 1833, previously Elater. One taxonomic study of the genera within the tribe Ampedini, which used nuclear and mitochondrial data, found monophyly of Ampedus to be highly supported. Another molecular study using DNA barcoding data found Ampedus to be paraphyletic, with the genus Reitterelator nested within it. Megapenthes is the most closely related North American genus to Ampedus.

Conservation status

According to the IUCN Red List, multiple species of European Ampedus beetles are considered endangered, mostly due to the threats posed by logging and wood harvesting to saproxylic beetles. They are also negatively impacted by salvage logging, the practice of removing wind-thrown trees after storms and other natural disturbances.

Species

References

Further reading

External links