Editing Passalidae

{{Short description|Family of beetles}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Beetle-Bessbug.jpg
| image_caption = Adult ''[[Odontotaenius disjunctus]]''
| image2 = Eastern Bess Beetle Larva (14463143929).jpg
| image2_caption = Larva of ''[[Odontotaenius disjunctus]]''
| oldest_fossil = Cenomanian
| taxon = Passalidae
| authority = [[William Elford Leach|Leach]], 1815
| display_parents = 3
| diversity_link = 
| diversity = > 500 species
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
''[[Didimus]]''<br />
''[[Mastochilus]]''<br />
''[[Odontotaenius]]''<br />
''[[Passalus]]''<br />
''[[Pharochilus]]''<br />
''[[Ptichopus]]''
:many more
}}

'''Passalidae''' is a [[Family (biology)|family]] of [[beetle]]s known variously as "'''bessbugs'''",<ref name="Florida">{{cite web |url=http://eny3005.ifas.ufl.edu/lab1/Coleoptera/Passalid.htm |title=Family Identification. Coleoptera: Passalidae |author=John L. Foltz |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |date=2001-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218143544/http://eny3005.ifas.ufl.edu/lab1/Coleoptera/Passalid.htm |archive-date=2008-12-18 }}</ref> "bess beetles",<ref name="Florida"/> "betsy beetles",<ref name="Florida"/> "betsy bugs", or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species found in [[North America]] are notable for their size, ranging from 20 to 43&nbsp;mm, for having a single "horn" on the head, and for a form of [[social behavior]] unusual among beetles.

Bodies are elongate-cylindrical and black overall; ventral surfaces may be covered with yellow [[setae]]. The head is narrower than the thorax, with [[antenna (biology)|antennae]] consisting of 10 [[antennomere]]s with a three-segment club. The [[elytra]] are elongate with parallel sides, and heavily striated.

They are [[Sociality#quasisocial|quasisocial]] (common nest + brood caring) beetles that live in groups within rotting logs or stumps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Passalidae/Passalidae-Overview/PassalidaeO.html|title=Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles-Scarabaeoidea-Passalidae Overview|website=www.museum.unl.edu|access-date=2017-01-22}}</ref> The beetles will excavate tunnel systems within rotting wood where the females then lay their eggs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://insects.about.com/od/beetles/p/Bess-Beetles-Family-Passalidae.htm|title=What Are Bess Beetles?|newspaper=About.com Education|access-date=2017-01-22}}</ref> They care for their young by preparing food for them and helping the [[larva]]e construct the [[pupa|pupal case]]. Both adults and larvae must consume adult feces which have been further digested by [[Flora (microbiology)|microflora]] for a time; an arrangement that might be described as a sort of external [[rumen]].

They are also able to produce fourteen [[Animal communication|acoustical signals]], more than many [[vertebrate]]s.  Adults produce the sounds by rubbing the upper surface of the [[abdomen]] against the [[insect wing|hind wings]]. The larvae produce the sounds by rubbing the third leg against a striated area on the [[Arthropod coxa|coxa]] of the second leg.

While the [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of [[Nearctic]] species is well-known (four species in the US, and 90 in Mexico), bess beetles in other parts of the world need further study.

Of North American species, ''[[Odontotaenius disjunctus]]'' (''synonym: Popilius disjunctus'') is the familiar bessbug found throughout the eastern US and Canada, while ''[[Odontotaenius floridanus|O. floridanus]]'' has only been found in [[Florida]] on sand hills that used to be islands when Florida was flooded thousands of years ago.  ''Ptichopus angulatus'' was recently{{When|date=March 2023}} discovered near the border of [[Mexico]] in [[Arizona]]. Its habitat is south to [[Colombia]] and it is commonly associated with the detritus chambers of [[leafcutter ant]] nests (''Atta'' spp.). Two other species were reported from Arizona at the beginning of the 20th century, but have not been seen there since that time; they may have been brought from Mexico by a train hauling firewood.

The oldest records of the family go back to the Cretaceous, with the genus ''[[Ceracyclus]]'' known from two species found in the [[Cenomanian]] aged [[Burmese amber]]; the genus appears to be closely related to the living genus ''[[Cylindrocaulus]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boucher |first=Stéphane |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320557651 |title=Ceracyclini, tribe nov. of Passalidae Aulacocyclinae for Cylindrocaulus Fairmaire and Ceracyclus, gen. nov., with two new species from the Cenomanian Burmese amber (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) |last2=Bai |first2=Ming |last3=Wang |first3=Bo |last4=Monteuil |first4=Oliver |publisher=Les Cahiers Magellanes |year=2017 |isbn=978-2-35387-135-3 |oclc=1098209160}}</ref> The family has been suggested to have a close relationship with the extinct family [[Passalopalpidae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boucher|first1=Stéphane|last2=Bai|first2=Ming|last3=Wang|first3=Bo|last4=Zhang|first4=Weiwei|last5=Yang|first5=Xingke|date=September 2016|title=†Passalopalpidae, a new family from the Cretaceous Burmese amber, as the possible sister group of Passalidae Leach (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667116300477|journal=Cretaceous Research|language=en|volume=64|pages=67–78|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2016.03.017|bibcode=2016CrRes..64...67B |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Genera==
*''{{ill|Aceraius|es}} – {{ill|Analaches|es}} – [[Aponelides]] – {{ill|Aulacocyclus|es}} – {{ill|Austropassalus|es}} – {{ill|Basilianus (genus)|lt=Basilianus|es|Basilianus}} – [[Cacoius]] – [[Ceracupes]] – {{ill|Cetejus|es}} – [[Cicernonius]] – {{ill|Comacupes|es}} – [[Cylindrocaulus]] – [[Didimus]] – [[Epishenus]] – [[Episphenoides]] – [[Eumelosomus]] – [[Flaminius (genus)|Flaminius]] – {{ill|Gonatas|es}} – [[Heliscus]] – [[Hincksius]] – {{ill|Labienus (genus)|lt=Labienus|es|Labienus}} – {{ill|Leptaulax|es}} – {{ill|Macrolinus|es}} – [[Malagasulus]] – [[Mastochilus]] – [[Neleides (genus)|Neleides]] – [[Neleuops]] – [[Nelues]] – [[Ninus (genus)|Ninus]] – [[Odontotaenius]] – {{ill|Ogyges (genus)|lt=Ogyges|es|Ogyges}} – [[Oileus (genus)|Oileus]] – [[Ophrygonius]] – [[Orgyes]] – [[Paratiberioides]] – [[Passalus]] – [[Passipassalus]] – {{ill|Paxillus (beetle)|lt=Paxillus|es|Paxillus (animal)}} – {{ill|Pelopides|es}} – [[Pelops (genus)|Pelops]] – [[Pentalobus]] – {{ill|Petrejoides|es}} – [[Petrejus]] – [[Pharochilus]] – [[Phoroneus (genus)|Phoroneus]] – [[Plesthenus]] – [[Pleurarius]] – [[Popilius (genus)|Popilius]] – [[Proculejus]] – {{ill|Proculus (genus)|lt=Proculus|es|Proculus (animal)}} – [[Protomocoelus]] – {{ill|Pseudepisphenus|es}} – {{ill|Pseudoarrox|es}} – [[Ptichopus]] – {{ill|Publius (genus)|lt=Publius|es|Veturius (Publius)}} – [[Rhodocanthopus]] – {{ill|Semicyclus|es}} – {{ill|Solenocyclus|es}} – {{ill|Spasalus|es}} – [[Spurius]] – {{ill|Taeniocerus|es}} – {{ill|Tarquinius (genus)|lt=Tarquinius|es|Tarquinius}} – [[Tiberioides]] – [[Trichopleurus]] – [[Undulifer]] – [[Verres (genus)|Verres]] – {{ill|Veturius|es}} – [[Vindex (genus)|Vindex]] – {{ill|Vitellinus|es}} – {{ill|Xylopassaloides|es}}''

==Selected species==
*Genus ''[[Aceraius]]''
[[File:Aceraius laevicollis - Mindanao, Philippines.jpg|thumb|''[[Aceraius laevicollis]]'' from under a rotten log in [[Mindanao]], [[Philippines]]]]
:''[[Aceraius grandis]]''
*Genus ''[[Aulacocyclus]]''
:''[[Aulacocyclus edentulus]]''
*Genus ''[[Ceracupes]]''
:''[[Ceracupes arrowi]]''
*Genus ''[[Chondrocephalus]]''
:''[[Chondrocephalus debilis]]''
:''[[Chondrocephalus granulifrons]]''
*Genus ''[[Cylindrocaulus]]''
:''[[Cylindrocaulus patalis]]''
*Genus ''[[Didimus]]''
:''[[Didimus laevis]]''
:''[[Didimus parastictus]]''
*Genus ''[[Heliscus]]''
:''[[Heliscus tropicus]]''
*Genus ''[[Leptaulax]]''
:''[[Leptaulax bicolor]]''
*Genus ''[[Odontotaenius]]''
:''[[Odontotaenius disjunctus]]'' (patent-leather beetle)
:''[[Odontotaenius floridanus]]''
:''[[Odontotaenius striatopunctatus]]''
*Genus ''[[Ogyges (genus)|Ogyges]]''
:''[[Ogyges laevior]]''
*Genus ''[[Oileus (genus)|Oileus]]''
:''[[Oileus rimator]]''
*Genus ''[[Passalus]]''
:''[[Passalus affinis]]''
:''[[Passalus caelatus]]''
:''[[Passalus elfriedae]]''
:''[[Passalus inops]]''
:''[[Passalus interruptus]]''
:''[[Passalus interstitialis]]''
:''[[Passalus jansoni]]''
:''[[Passalus latifrons]]''
:''[[Passalus pugionifer]]''
:''[[Passalus punctatostriatus]]''
:''[[Passalus punctiger]]''
:''[[Passalus spiniger]]''
:''[[Passalus unicornis]]''
*Genus ''[[Paxillus (beetle)|Paxillus]]''
:''[[Paxillus leachi]]''
:''[[Paxillus pentataphylloides]]''
*Genus ''[[Pentalobus]]''
:''[[Pentalobus barbatus]]''
*Genus ''[[Petrejoides]]''
:''[[Petrejoides orizabae]]''
*Genus ''[[Popilius (beetle)|Popilius]]''
:''[[Popilius eclipticus]]''
*Genus ''[[Proculus (genus)|Proculus]]''
:''[[Proculus burmeisteri]]''
:''[[Proculus mniszechi]]''
*Genus ''[[Ptichopus]]''
:''[[Ptichopus angulatus]]''
*Genus ''[[Publius (genus)|Publius]]''
:''[[Publius agassizi]]''
*Genus ''[[Spasalus]]''
:''[[Spasalus crenatus]]''
*Genus ''[[Spurius]]''
:''[[Spurius bicornis]]''
*Genus ''[[Verres (genus)|Verres]]''
:''[[Verres corticicola]]''
:''[[Verres hageni]]''
*Genus ''[[Veturius]]''
:''[[Veturius transversus]]''

==See also==
*''[[Austroplatypus incompertus]]'', an unrelated species that also lives in wood and shows sociality

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Jack C. Schuster, "Passalidae", in [[Ross H. Arnett Jr.]] and [[Michael C. Thomas]], ''[[American Beetles]]'' (CRC Press, 2002), vol. 2
* BugGuide [http://bugguide.net/node/view/127 Passalidae]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Passalidae}}
{{Wikispecies|Passalidae}}
*[http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/beetles/horned_passalus.htm  ''Odontotaenius disjunctus''] on the [[University of Florida|UF]] / [[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences|IFAS]] Featured Creatures Web site
* [http://bio.acousti.ca/taxonomy/term/587 Sound recording of Passalidae at BioAcoustica]

{{Coleoptera|4}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q227894}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Passalidae| ]]
[[Category:Beetle families]]