Alleculidae

Alleculidae [‚ȯl·ə′kyü·lə‚dē]

(invertebrate zoology)

The comb claw beetles, a family of mostly tropical coleopteran insects in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea.

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Alleculidae 

(comb-clawed bark beetles), a family of beetles. The elongated body, which measures 5 to 25 mm long, is black, brown, or yellow. The tarsal claws are pectinate. There are approximately 1,300 widely distributed species. As many as 100 species are encountered in the USSR, chiefly in southern regions. The beetles are herbivorous, feeding on leaves or flowers. They gnaw on plant anthers. The larvae live in rotten wood or in the soil, where they feed on plant remains and rootlets. The larvae of some species, including Omophlus proteus and Podonta daghestanica, damage the seeds and shoots of agricultural crops.