tenebrionoid

English

Tenebrio molitor (mealworm beetle)

Noun

tenebrionoid (plural tenebrionoids)

1. Any beetle of the superfamily Tenebrionoidea.
   • 2002, John D. Pinto, Marco A. Bologna, 111. Meloidae Gyllenhal, Ross H. Arnett, Jr, Michael C. Thomas, Paul E. Skelley, J. Howard Frank (editors), American Beetles, Volume 2: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea, page 523,

     Larvae of Eleticinae apparently have typical holometabolic development and are the most similar to those of other tenebrionoids.

   • 2006, Jonathan Cooter, Maxwell V. L. Barclay, A Coleopterist's Handbook, page 113:

     Exactly two hundred species of tenebrionoid are currently recognised from the British Isles.

   • 2009, Joseph V. McHugh, James K. Liebherr, “Coleoptera: (Betetles, Weevils, Fireflies)”, in Vincent H. Resh, Ring T. Cardé, editors, Encyclopedia of Insects, page 193:

     Tergal and pleural armature, which is absent or modest in most cucujoids and tenebrionoids, becomes exaggerated in some predators (e.g., Stethoris, Coccinellidae; Fig. 36), surface feeding herbivores (e.g., the coccinellid genus Epilachna; Fig. 37), and fungus feeders (e.g., the erotylid genus Aegithus), to form various structures such as setose, tuberculate verrucae, and complexly branched scoli.