Body small, convexconvex:
the outer curved surface of a segment of a sphere, as opposed to concave.
, round to oval, size under 3 mm. Antennaeantennae:
paired, segmental appendages, borne one on each side of head, functioning as sense organs and bearing a large number of sensilla.
11-segmented with a 2-segmented club. Antennal setation sparse. Eyes well-developed, elongate-oval, somewhat reniformreniform:
kidney-shaped.
, coarsely faceted, extending well onto dorsal portion of head. Groove around dorsal edge of eye paralleling eye facetseye facet:
individual parts of the external surface of the compound eye; often convex but sometimes more or less flattened.
for entire length. Lateral margins of pronotumpronotum:
dorsal portion of the pronotum, lying above the lateral pronotal carinae when these are present.
arcuate. Pronotal discpronotal disc:
the area of the pronotum which is visible dorsally and usually delimited laterally by the two lateral carinae. Contrasted with the paired pronotal hypomera, which extend onto the ventral surface.
simple. Hypomeronhypomeron:
that portion of the pronotum which is visible from the ventral side; when there is a lateral pronotal carina, this is the portion below that carina (the pronotal disc being above it).
with deep antennal cavitiesantennal cavity:
a prothoracic cavity for housing the whole antenna or a portion of the antenna (usually the club).
. Antennal groove and cavity recurved dorsally, meeting or nearly meeting lateral margin of hypomeronhypomeron:
that portion of the pronotum which is visible from the ventral side; when there is a lateral pronotal carina, this is the portion below that carina (the pronotal disc being above it).
. Antennal cavityantennal cavity:
a prothoracic cavity for housing the whole antenna or a portion of the antenna (usually the club).
not concealed by prothoracic leg when retracted. Procoxal cavitiesprocoxal cavities:
external closure: Externally closed when the postcoxal processes of the hypomera meet the prosternal process or meet one another.
open. Metacoxaemetacoxae:
the coxae of the metathorax.
widely separated, separation as wide or wider than metacoxal length. Scutellumscutellum:
posterior portion of mesotergum. Often referring only to that portion of the scutellum which is visible between the bases of the elytra (see Scutellar Shield).
small, triangular, visible. Abdominal ventriteabdominal ventrite:
visible ventral abdominal sclerite. Ventrite number does not correspond to true sternite number except in rare cases where sternite 1 is visible. Also called ventrite.
5 simple. Tarsal formulatarsal formula:
the number of tarsomeres on the fore, mid, and hind tarsi, respectively.
5–5–4. Dorsal surface punctate, glabrousglabrous:
without hairs (setae).
, shiny.
The genus Aspathines is similar to the monommatine genera Hyporhagus and Spinhyporhagus, can immediately be distinguished by the smaller size and more oval body, the 2-segmented antennal clubantennal club:
an enlarged portion of the antennal apex, consisting of a variable number of antennomeres (often 3). In an incrassate, antenna the antennomeres gradually enlarge towards to apex, but if there is an abrupt change in length or width at some point, then the antennomeres beyond this are considered to be part of the club.
, the antennal groove and cavity strongly recurved dorsally and ending near lateral margin of hypomeron, and the antennal cavityantennal cavity:
a prothoracic cavity for housing the whole antenna or a portion of the antenna (usually the club).
not concealed by the prothoracic leg when retracted.
Aspathines aenus ovatus Champion, 1888Champion, 1888:
Champion GC. 1888. Fam: Monommidae, pp. 472-476. In: Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Coleoptera Volume IV, Part I. FD. Godman and Salvin O (eds.). Porter, London.
Southeast (FL) USA.
Members of the Monommatini are associated with rotting vegetable matter and are suspected to feed on fungus (Ivie 2002bIvie 2002b:
Ivie, M.A. 2002b. 128. Monommatidae, pp. 454-456 In: R. H. Arnett, Jr., Jr. and M. C. Thomas (eds.), American Beetles. CRC Press, Gainesville, Florida.).
Abundance: Rare.
Aspathines aenus ovatus: This is the only member of the genus thought to occur in North America. The description and differentiation from similar genera above serve to distinguish this species from all other North American monommatines. Distribution: Florida Keys, Florida, USA.
This predominantly occurs from Paraguay to Mexico, and it is possible it may be found in the border states.
If correctly identified to Zopheridae, the small size and antennal characters will easily separate this species from all others.
Champion (1888)Champion (1888):
Champion GC. 1888. Fam: Monommidae, pp. 472-476. In: Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Coleoptera Volume IV, Part I. FD. Godman and Salvin O (eds.). Porter, London., Freude (1993)Freude (1993):
Freude H. 1993. Neue Monommidae und Epitragini (Tenebrioidae) des British Museum und eine Tabell der amerikanishen Monommidae. Spixiana 16: 213-225., Ivie (2002b)Ivie (2002b):
Ivie, M.A. 2002b. 128. Monommatidae, pp. 454-456 In: R. H. Arnett, Jr., Jr. and M. C. Thomas (eds.), American Beetles. CRC Press, Gainesville, Florida.
Authors: Lord NP, Nearns EH, Miller KB. 2011–2015.
Content updated Apr 2015; taxonomy updated Feb 2026
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