Belongs within: Elateroidea.
Contains: Melasinae.
The Eucnemidae, false click beetles, are a group of beetles resembling the click beetles of the Elateridae in possessing a ventral click process between the prothorax and mesothorax but differing in having all five abdominal ventrites connate. Larvae are found in dead wood but their exact habits are uncertain (Lawrence & Britton 1991).
The genus Perothops is distinctive within the family due to its serrate tarsal claws (Muona 2002).
Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Elongate, cylindrical to slightly flattened, compact, usually finely pubescent and with acute posterior angles on pronotum; labrum concealed beneath clypeus; antennae eleven-segmented, sometimes received in grooves just beneath lateral pronotal carinae or ventrally crossing or bordering notosternal suture; fore coxae globular, trochantins concealed, fore coxal cavities externally and internally open; clicking device present involving prosternal process and mesosternal cavity; mid coxal cavities narrowly separated, laterally open; tarsi pentamerous, usually simple, rarely bearing membranous appendages on segments 2–4; abdomen with five ventrites, all connate. Larvae usually flattened, with no legs and reduced head with minute antennae and non-opposable or immovable mandibles.
<==Eucnemidae [Eucnemididae, Melasidae, Perothopidae, Phylloceridae]M02 |--EucneminaeKB11 | |--Proutianus Muona 1993 [Proutianini]M02 | | `--P. americanus (Horn 1872)M02 | |--Dendrocharis Guérin-Méneville 1843 [incl. Galba LeConte 1853 non Schrank 1803; Dendrocharini]M02 | | |--‘Galba’ auricolorMac86 | | |--‘Galba’ marmorata [=Pterotarsus marmoratus]B35 | | `--‘Galba’ wallacei Perroud 1864Mac86 | |--MesogeniniM02 | | |--Vitellius Bonvouloir 1971M02 | | | `--V. texanus Knull 1957M02 | | `--Stethon LeConte 1866M02 | | `--S. pectorosus LeConte 1866M02 | |--EucneminiM02 | | |--Eucnemis Ahrens 1812M02 | | | `--E. americana Horn 1886M02 | | `--Idiotarsus Bonvouloir 1871M02 | | `--I. errans (Horn 1886)M02 | `--Galbites [Galbitini]B14 | |--G. albiventrisB14 | |--G. auricolor (Bonvouloir 1875)B14 | |--G. australiaeB14 | |--G. bicolorB14 | |--G. chrysocomaB14 | |--G. modiglianiiB14 | |--G. sericataB14 | `--G. tigrinaB14 `--+--MelasinaeKB11 `--MacraulacinaeKB11 |--Nematodes Berthold 1827 [Nematodini]M02 |--Euryptychus LeConte 1852 [Euryptychini]M02 | `--E. porosusLB91 |--Hemiopsida MacLeay 1872 [Echtrogasterini]M02 | |--H. mastersi Macleay 1872Mas86 | `--H. robusta (Van Dyke 1943)M02 `--MacraulaciniM02 |--Isarthrus LeConte 1852M02 |--Asiocnemis Mamaev 1976M02 |--Dromaeolus Kiesenwetter 1863M02 |--Deltometopus Bonvouloir 1870M02 |--Diphytaxis Horn 1890M02 | `--D. excavata Horn 1890M02 |--Onichodon Newman 1838M02 | `--O. orchesoidesM02 |--Serrifornax Fleutiaux 1926M02 | `--S. infelix (Bonvouloir 1886)M02 |--Thambus Bonvouloir 1871M02 | `--T. horni Muona 2000M02 `--Fornax Laporte 1835M02 |--F. additus Bon. 1872Mas86 |--F. affinisFS90 `--F. guadeloupensis Fleutiaux & Sallé 1890FS90 Eucnemidae incertae sedis: NeocharisE02 DromoeolusMas86 |--D. australasiae Bonv. 1871Mas86 |--D. dignoscendus Bonv. 1871Mas86 `--D. lugubris Bonv. 1871Mas86 Trigonopleurus rugulosus Bonv. 1875LB91, Mas86 PhyllocerinaeM02 |--PhyllocerusLB91 `--Anelastes Kirby 1818 [incl. Silenus Latreille 1834; Anelastini]M02 `--A. barbarus Lucas 1846E12 Palaeoxenus Horn 1891 [incl. Cryptostoma Latreille 1825 non Blainville 1818; Palaeoxeninae]M02 `--P. dorhni (Horn 1878)B14 Cafolus moestusMac86 Arisus depressus Bonv. 1871Mas86 Anabolus mirus Bonv. 1871Mas86 Phoenocerus subclavatus Bonv. 1871Mas86 GalbodemaMas86 |--G. mannerheimiMas86 `--G. ruficeps Bonv. 1872Mas86 Orodotes jansoni Bonv. 1875Mas86 LycaonMas86 |--L. expulsus Bonv. 1875Mas86 |--L. kraatzi Bonv. 1875Mas86 |--L. nanus Bonv. 1875Mas86 |--L. nigricans Bonv. 1875Mas86 `--L. novus Bonv. 1875Mas86 HypocoelusP92 PhlegonP92 Throscogenius takhtajani Yablokov-Khnzorian 1962P92 ‘Tachycnemis’ Bonv. 1871 non Fitzinger 1843FS90 `--T. delauneyi Fleutiaux & Sallé 1890FS90 Perothops Laporte 1838 [Perothopinae]M02 Schizophilus Bonvouloir 1870 [Pseudomeninae, Schizophilini]M02 `--S. subrufus (Randall 1938)M02
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d’Urville. Faune entomologique de l’océan Pacifique, avec l’illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.
[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).
[E02] Emberson, R. M. 2002. The beetle (Coleoptera) fauna of the Chatham Islands: additions and corrections. New Zealand Entomologist 25: 69–77.
[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.
[FS90] Fleutiaux, E., & A. Sallé. 1890. Liste des coléoptères de la Guadeloupe et descriptions d’espèces nouvelles. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: 351–484.
[KB11] Kundrata, R., & L. Bocak. 2011. The phylogeny and limits of Elateridae (Insecta, Coleoptera): is there a common tendency of click beetles to soft-bodiedness and neoteny? Zoologica Scripta 40: 364–378.
[LB91] Lawrence, J. F., & E. B. Britton. 1991. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 543–683. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[Mac86] Macleay, W. 1886. The insects of the Fly River, New Guinea, “Coleoptera”. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (1): 136–157.
[Mas86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 259–380.
[M02] Muona, J. 2002. Eucnemidae Eschscholtz 1829. In: Arnett, R. H., Jr, M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley & J. H. Frank (eds) American Beetles vol. 2. Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea pp. 152–157. CRC Press.
[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.