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DESERT BEETLES

TENEBRIONIDAE: PIMELIINAE

subfamily

Pimeliinae

known species

8,000

distribution

Worldwide, in warmer parts of most

continents (except Antarctica), especially

southern Africa

habitat

Warm or hot, dry places, especially deserts

and semideserts, as well as scrub, savanna,

and chaparral

size

3–80 mm

diet

Detritus. Plant and occasionally animal debris

notes

Some toktokkies have become “fog

harvesters.” Standing on desert sand dunes,

TENEBRIONIDAE: PIMELIINAE

below | Adesmia cancellata

A typical beetle of dry habitats,

from the eastern Mediterranean

to the Arabian Peninsula.

T

enebrionidae are often called darkling beetles

due to their somber colors and association

with dark places, but one large subfamily,

Pimeliinae, is associated with the brightest and

most relentlessly sunlit environments on earth—

the world’s deserts and semideserts. Usually

called desert beetles, almost all Pimeliinae are

xerophilous, meaning they are adapted to dry

habitats; in some cases so dry that few other

creatures can survive there at all. These

adaptations to conserve liquid generally

involve fusing of the elytra (reducing

evaporation), and the whole subfamily

has lost the ability to produce

defensive fluids. Instead, adult

Pimeliinae are defended by a strong

armored exoskeleton. They are built

to last and can be very long-lived,

up to several years as adults, which

is necessary because opportunities to

breed and even eat can be limited in

the desert environment. They generally

eke out a living by scavenging on scraps

of plant and animal matter blown along the

desert sands, and spend the hotter part of the

day buried in the sand, under pieces of debris, or

in and under bushes and desert plants.