histerid

English

Asolenus julietteae, a histerid

Noun

histerid (plural histerids)

1. (zoology) Any of the numerous beetles in the family Histeridae; a clown beetle.

   Synonyms: clown beetle, hister beetle

   • 1999, K. S. Hagen, N. J. Mills, G. Gordh, J. A. McMurtry, “16. Terrestrial Arthropod Predators of Insect and Mite Pests”, in T. W. Fisher, Thomas S. Bellows, L. E. Caltagirone, D. L. Dahlsten, Carl B. Huffaker, G. Gordh, editors, Handbook of Biological Control, Academic Press, page 447:

     Later, mostly in the 1950s, eight more histerid species were imported into Hawaii to attack the horn fly, of which four became established, including Pachylister caffer (Erichson) (Legner, 1978; Funasaki et al, 1988).

   • 2001, Peter W. Kovarik, Michael S. Caterino, “Family 15. HISTERIDAE Gyllenhal, 1808”, in Ross H. Arnett Jr., Michael C. Thomas, editors, American Beetles, Volume 1, CRC Press, page 216:

     Histerids are mainly predators of soft-bodied insect larvae and eggs, particularly those of cyclorraphan^{[sic – meaning cyclorrhaphan]} Diptera.

   • 2004, David P. Rees, Insects of Stored Products, CSIRO Publishing, page 72:

     Histerids are scavengers and predators in decomposing organic material such as animal carcasses.

Anagrams

• disherit, tiredish