Tritoma

Tritoma is a genus of beetles in the family Erotylidae, the pleasing fungus beetles. It is distributed worldwide, mainly in the Old World. There are over 100 species.
Some species consume euagaric mushrooms, staying concealed amidst the gills as they feed. Some feed on mushrooms growing from dead trees, as well as mycorrhizae on living roots. One of the most common pleasing fungus beetles in Europe, T. bipustulata, is a black beetle with red spots which engages in autohaemorrhaging as a defensive behavior.
Molecular analysis suggests that Tritoma is paraphyletic, and might be best treated as two separate genera.

Selected species

Tritoma angulata Say, 1826^{i c g b}Tritoma atriventris LeConte, 1847^{i c g b}Tritoma aulica ^{i c g}Tritoma biguttata ^{i c g b}Tritoma bipustulata Fabricius, 1775^gTritoma erythrocephala Lacordaire, 1842^{i c g b}Tritoma fasciata Chujo, 1941^gTritoma gressitti ^gTritoma humeralis Fabricius, 1801^{i c g b}Tritoma kanekoi Araki, 1943^gTritoma metasobrina Chujo, 1941^gTritoma mimetica ^{i c g b}Tritoma pulchra Say, 1826^{i c g b} Tritoma sanguinipennis ^{i c g b} Tritoma shirakii Chujo, 1936^gTritoma subbasalis ^gTritoma sungkangensis Nakane, 1966^gTritoma taiwana Chujo, 1936^gTritoma takasagona Chujo, 1941^gTritoma tenebrosa Fall, 1912^{i c g b} Tritoma unicolor Say, 1826^{i c g b}Tritoma yamazii Chujo, 1941^gTritoma yiei Nakane, 1966^g
Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net