Melanophila acuminata

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

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

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. "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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