Prionoceridae is a small family of beetles, in the suborder Polyphaga. The form a group within the cleroid beetles and were formerly treated as a subfamily Prionocerinae within the family Melyridae. Very little is known of their life history but most species are pollen feeders as adults and occur in large numbers during spring or the host flowering season. Larvae are predatory or feed on decomposing wood.
Beetles in the family are elongate with soft elytra. The elytra are often covered with rows of hairs. The margin of the eyes are not round but notched anteriorly. The head faces forward (prognathous) and the clypeal region is produced into a short flat snout. Each of the legs have five tarsi (5-5-4 in the Oedemeridae) with simple claws and a single spur on the pro-tibia. Male Idgia and Prionocerus have a comb on the inner edge of the distal tarsal segment of the foreleg. The genera Nacerdes and Xanthochroa in the family Oedemeridae and some Cantharidae bear resemblance to some of the Prionoceridae.
Members of the family were formerly included as a subfamily within the closely related Melyridae (the genus Lobonyx in Dasytidae). Prionoceridae have been recorded from the middle Jurassic of China (Idgiaites jurassicus) and Eocene Amber from Canada (Prionocerites tattriei).
There are around 150 species in three genera Lobonyx (Mostly Palaearctic), Prionocerus (Palaeotropical) and Idgia (Palaeotropical).
The following is a partial list of the species that have been described (the generic placement and validity are unverified and likely to be out of date) :
Genus Idgia Laporte, 1836Idgia abdominalis Pic, 1920Idgia abyssinica Champion, 1919 (Ethiopia)Idgia amplipennis Pic, 1923Idgia andrewesi Bourgeois, 1907Idgia angustata Champion, 1919 (N. Borneo)Idgia apicalis (Gerstacker, 1871)Idgia apicata Gorham, 1895 (Singapore)Idgia arabica (Walker, 1871) (Arabia)Idgia ardesica Pic, 1908 (China)Idgia assimilis (Hope, 1831)Idgia asirensis Wittmer, 1980Idgia atricornis Pic, 1920Idgia bagorensis Pic, 1920Idgia bakeri Pic, 1920Idgia belli Gorham, 1895 (S. India)Idgia bimaculata Pic, 1910 (China)Idgia caeruliventris Champion, 1919Idgia cavilabris Champion, 1919Idgia chloroptera Redtenbacher, 1868Idgia cincta Pic, 1920Idgia confusa Pic, 1920Idgia costata Pic, 1920Idgia costulata Pic, 1941Idgia curticeps Pic, 1920Idgia cyanea Pic, 1906Idgia cyanocephala Champion, 1919Idgia cyanipennis Pic, 1920Idgia cyanura Champion, 1919 (Sri Lanka)Idgia dasytoides Champion, 1919Idgia decolor Champion, 1919Idgia deusta Fairmaire, 1878 (China)Idgia dichroa Champion, 1919Idgia dimelaena (Walker, 1859)Idgia dimidiata (Gerstacker, 1871)Idgia diversiceps Pic, 1925Idgia dohertyi Pic, 1912Idgia dubia Gyll., 1808Idgia elongaticeps Pic, 1923Idgia femorata Champion, 1919Idgia flavibuccis Bourgeois, 1892Idgia flavicollis Redtenbacher, 1878 (China)Idgia flavirostris Pascoe, 1860 (China)Idgia flavithorax Pic, 1927Idgia flavilabris Champion, 1919Idgia flavolimbata Champion, 1919Idgia foveifrons Fairmaire, 1900Idgia fruhstorferi Pic, 1920 (Java)Idgia fulvicollis Reichenbach, 1849Idgia geniculata Champion, 1919Idgia gorhami Pic, 1911Idgia grandis Pic, 1935 (China)Idgia granulipennis Pic, 1920 (China)Idgia griseolineata Pic, 1934Idgia haemorrhoidalis Pic, 1906 (China)Idgia hoffmanni Gressitt, 1939 (China)Idgia huegeli (Redtenbacher, 1868) (China)Idgia humeralifer Pic, 1920Idgia incerta Pic, 1920Idgia indicola Champion, 1919 (Nilgiris)Idgia iriomoteana Nakane, 1980Idgia javana Champion, 1919Idgia laticornis Champion, 1919 (Arabia)Idgia lineata Pic, 1920Idgia longicollis Pic, 1925Idgia longipalpis Champion, 1919 (Ethiopia)Idgia longipes Pic, 1920Idgia longissima Pic, 1909Idgia luteipes Champion, 1919 (Nilgiris)Idgia luzonica Pic, 1924Idgia melanocephala (Fabricius, 1781)Idgia maculicornis Pic, 1925Idgia maculiventris Champion, 1919Idgia maindroni Pic, 1909 (Western Ghats)Idgia major Pic, 1908Idgia marginata Champion, 1919Idgia mindanaosa Pic, 1947Idgia melanura Kollar & Redtenbacher, 1844Idgia minuta Pic, 1920Idgia moupinensis Fairmaire, 1889 (China)Idgia nilgirica Champion, 1919Idgia nitida Champion, 1919 (Pakistan)Idgia obscurimembris Pic, 1923Idgia oculata Redtenbacher, 1868 (China, Vietnam)Idgia oedemeroides Pic, 1920Idgia opacipennis Pic, 1920Idgia pallidicolor Pic, 1906Idgia parlicularipes Pic, 1920Idgia particularicornis Pic, 1939Idgia plectrophora Champion, 1919Idgia revoili Pic, 1920Idgia rostrifera Champion, 1919 (Anamalai hills, India)Idgia rouyeri Pic, 1906Idgia semitecta Champion, 1919Idgia stamperi Pic, 1924Idgia subparallela Pic, 1920Idgia terminata Cast., 1840Idgia testaceipes Pic, 1908 (China)Idgia thibetana (Obenberger, 1918)Idgia uncigera Champion, 1919Idgia ungulata Champion, 1919 (China)Idgia varicornis Champion, 1919Idgia varipes Champion, 1919Idgia virescens Champion, 1919 (China)Idgia viridivittata Champion, 1919Genus Lobonyx Jacquelin du Val, 1859Lobonyx aeneus (Fabricius, 1787)Lobonyx gracilis Reitter, 1872Lobonyx guerryi (Pic, 1920)Lobonyx thoracicus Majer, 1990Genus Prionocerus Perty, 1831Prionocerus caeruleipennis Perty, 1831Prionocerus bicolor Redtenbacher, 1868Prionocerus paiensis Geiser, 2010Prionocerus viridiflavus Geiser, 2007Prionocerus malaysiacus Geiser, 2010Prionocerus championi Geiser, 2010Prionocerus opacipennis (Pic, 1920)Prionocerus wittmeri Geiser, 2010
