pythid

English

Pytho depressus, a pythid

Noun

pythid (plural pythids)

1. (zoology) Any beetle of the family Pythidae.
   • 1990, Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, numbers 151-155, page 5:

     Sphalma quadricollis was originally described as a pythid by Horn (1872), contrary to Watt (1987) who states that S. quadricollis was originally placed in Melandryidae.

   • 1999, L. Somme, “Cold adaptations in terrestrial invertebrates”, in Rosa Margesin, Franz Schinner, editors, Cold-Adapted Organisms: Ecology, Physiology, Enzymology and Molecular Biology, page 151:

     When the lower lethal temperatures of the chrysomelid beetle Phyllodecta laticollis or of the pythid beetle Pytho depressus is plotted against the concentrations of solutes in their hemolymph, a steep regression line appears.

   • 2005, P. J. Gullan, Peter Cranston, The Insects: An Outline of Entomology, page 369:

     Finally, pythids and belids are Batesian mimics, apparently lacking any chemical defenses.