The sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a
family of
beetles.
They are small (2–6 mm) ovoid, usually dull-coloured beetles, with knobbed
antennae. Some have red or yellow spots or bands. They feed mainly on decaying vegetable matter, over-ripe fruit, and
sap. Some sap beetle species coexist with fungi species and live in habitats of coniferous trees. These fungi-dependent beetles are found in all across Europe and Siberia and are the biggest nutudulid species known in those areas.[1] Other species like the Australian Chychramptodes murrayi are known to feed on scale insects.[2] There are a few
pest species, like the
strawberry sap beetle that infest crops in Brazil between the months of August and February.[3]
^Audisio, P., Cline, A., Mancini, E., Trizzino, M., Clayhills, T., Cline, A., & Sabatelli, S. (2016).
^
abKirejtshuk, A.G.; Lawrence, J.F. 1992: Cychramptodini, a new tribe of Nitidulidae (Coleoptera) from Australia. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 31: 29–46.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1992.tb00456.x
^Moliterno, A., Martins, C., Szczerbowski, D., Zawadneak, M., & Zarbin, P. (2017). The Male Produced Aggregation Pheromone of a Strawberry Sap Beetle, Lobiopa insularis (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). Journal Of Chemical Ecology, 43(6), 550-556. doi: 10.1007/s10886-017-0851-y