Melanophila acuminata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Buprestidae
Genus: Melanophila
Species:
M. acuminata
Binomial name
Melanophila acuminata
(De Geer, 1774)
Synonyms[1]
  • Melanophila acuta (Gmelin, 1790)
  • Melanophila anthaxoides Marquet, 1870
  • Melanophila appendiculata (Fabricius, 1792)
  • Melanophila immaculata Mannerheim, 1837
  • Melanophila longipes (Say, 1823)
  • Melanophila morio (Fabricius, 1792)
  • Melanophila obscurata Lewis, 1893
  • Melanophila opaca LeConte, 1860

Melanophila acuminata, known generally as the black fire beetle or fire bug, is a species of metallic wood-boring beetle in the family Buprestidae. It is found in the Caribbean, Europe and Northern Asia (excluding China), Central America, North America, and Southern Asia.[1][2][3] They get their common name due to the fact that they swarm freshly burned conifer trees, which they find using sensors on their thorax. Adults are black and 7-11 mm in length.[4]

Black fire beetle, Melanophila acuminata

It has been suggested that that fly is the pyrotocon, an insect said to be born from fire, of the Natural history by Pliny the Elder.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Melanophila acuminata Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Melanophila acuminata". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  3. ↑ Will, Kip; Gross, Joyce; Rubinoff, Daniel; Powell, Jerry A. (2020). Field Guide to California Insects. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 219. ISBN 9780520288744.
  4. ↑ "Le "pyrotocon" de Pline l'Ancien" by Emile Janssens, Latomus, T. 9, Fasc. 3, 1950, pp. 283-286.

Further reading

  • Bellamy, C.L. (2013). "The world of jewel beetles". Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  • Nelson, Gayle H.; Walters Jr., George C. Jr.; Haines, R. Dennis; Bellamy, Charles L. (2008). A Catalog and Bibliography of the Buprestoidea of America North of Mexico. Special Publication No. 4. The Coleopterists' Society. ISBN 978-0972608787.
  • Lobl, I.; Smetana, A., eds. (2006). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, Volume 3: Scarabaeoidea - Scirtoidea - Dascilloidea - Buprestoidea - Byrrhoidea. Apollo Books. ISBN 978-90-04-30914-2.
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