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Simple Summary A new false click-beetle (Eucnemidae) belonging to subfamily Anischiinae, formerly not known as fossils, extends the age of this small extant group 125 million years back. The structural specializations of the false click-beetle larvae are discussed. On the basis of this new piece of paleontological evidence, it is shown that these insects have changed their host preference from gymnosperms to angiosperms at least twice. It also indicates that the beetle larvae can switch their favored development substrate by adapting in different ways, either with or without morphological specialization. Rheanischia new genus, type species Rheanischia brevicornis new species (Eucnemidae, Anischiinae) is described from the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. The presence of this species in early Cretaceous deposits provides new insight into the evolution of basal lignicolous Eucnemidae clades. Both Anischiinae and Palaeoxeninae species diversified in a world dominated by gymnosperms, before the main radiation of angiosperms. More than 95% of modern eucnemid larvae have a Palaeoxenus-type highly modified head structure, but contrary to the Palaeoxenus larva, they develop in angiosperm wood. Anischiinae utilize angiosperms as well, but their head capsule shows no such modifications. These facts prove that highly specialized morphological features do not offer definite proof of similar way of life in the distant past, nor should non-modified structures be taken as proof for another kind of substrate choice. Eucnemidae have invaded angiosperms with two quite different morphological adaptations. This fact may have implications for the evolution of all clicking elateroids.

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Muona, Jyrki (2021): How do Vanhorniidae (Hymenoptera) parasitize Eucnemidae (Coleoptera)? Insecta Mundi 2021 (867): 1-10, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5042002, {"references":["Artmann-Graf G. 2017. Vanhornia leileri Hedqvist, 1976 : eine fur Mitteleuropa neue Art und Familie parasitischer Wespen in der Region Olten. Oltner Neujahrsblatter 74: 64-67.","Belgers JDM, Klein W, Peeters TMJ. 2020. Vanhornia leileri, a new species and new family for the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Vanhorniidae). Entomologische Berichten 80(3): 84-88.","Brues C. 1927. Observations on wood-boring insects, their parasites and other associated insects. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 34(2): 73-90.","Champlain AB. 1922. Records of Hymenopterous parasites in Pennsylvania. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 29(2): 95-100.","Chang H, Muona J, Pu H, Xu L, Wang C, Teravainen M, Ren D, Yang Q, Zhang X, Jia S. 2016. 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The larval characters of Eucnemidae are re-evaluated. Tribe Schizophilini Muona, 1993 is considered to merit subfamily rank as Schizophilinae Muona new status. Larval characters congruent with previously used adult morphological characters support the earlier published sister-group hypotheses for lignicolous eucnemids with one exception, Pseudomeninae, which is here split resulting in the following evolutionary hypothesis: (Pseudomeninae (Schizophilinae (Paleoxeninae (Melasinae, Eucneminae, Macraulcinae)))). The position of three remaining clades, Anischiinae, Perothopinae and Phyllocerinae remain ambiguous.

Genus Beattieellus gen. n. Type species: Beattieellus jurassicus sp. n. Description. Body elongate, approximately 3.3 times longer than wide. Head small, partly retracted under pronotum, only shortly visible in dorsal view; anterior margin arcuate. Antennae not preserved. Prothorax inversely parabolic in outline, anteriorly broadly rounded, lateral margins feebly arched; postero-lateral corners strongly and sharply projecting, evidently without carina; surface not evidently sculptured or punctate. Scutellar shield not discernible. Elytra flat dorsally, declivous laterally, apex acute; each with apparently nine striae of shallow cell-like punctures extending from base to apex, diminishing in size towards apex; striae 1–7 on disc, number of punctures not countable, striae 8–9 on lateral declivity; intervals narrow, about half as wide as striae, apical confluences not discernible. Procoxae indicated but not clear, apparently subglobular, separated by about their width, by a short broad prosternal process; forelegs not discernible. Mesanepisterna and mesepimera not discernible; metanepisterna long, narrow, subparallel; metepimera evidently not exposed. Mesoventrite short; mesocoxae subcircular in outline, anteriorly separated by broad round concavity (evidently part of clicking apparatus) flanked by a pair of short conical protuberances; mesofemora short, anteriorly slightly rounded, evidently flattened; mesotibiae apparently short, narrow, flat, retractable against femora; tarsi 5-segmented, slender. Metaventrite long, navicular, without distinct discrimen; metacoxae long, narrow, slanting anteriad, medially contiguous, with coxal plate covering femora and tibiae in repose; metafemora long, slender, flattened, anterior margin curved, almost reaching side of body; metatibiae shorter than metafemora, slender, straight, narrow, flattened, folding against metafemora, apical spurs not discernible; tarsi 5-segmented, slender, straight, as long as metafemora. Abdomen strongly convex, with five ventrites but their outlines and sutures not clearly discernible. Name derivation. The genus is cordially named for our colleague Robert Beattie, who has led the palaeoentomological excavations at the Talbragar Fish Bed for many years and discovered numerous magnificent specimens in the process, including most of the ones described here. His dedication to the project and his inextinguishable enthusiasm in exploring this Jurassic entomofauna on every excursion have been a great inspiration to us. The gender of the name is masculine. Remarks. The salient characters of Beattieellus (the general fusiform body form, the acutely projecting posterolateral angles of the prothorax embracing the elytral humeri, the mesoventrite with an apparent clicking apparatus and the metacoxae with well-developed coxal plates) indicate that it is an elateroid belonging in either the family Elateridae or Eucnemidae. These two families differ mainly in the following characters: in Elateridae the labrum is free, the pedicel of the antennae is inserted apically into the scape, the posterolateral pronotal angles are usually dorsally carinate and the last two abdominal ventrites are freely articulated, whereas in Eucnemidae the labrum is concealed (except in Anischiinae), the pedicels are inserted apicolaterally into the scapes, the pronotal angles have no carina and the last two abdominal ventrites are fused. All these features are difficult to ascertain in compression fossils, and the only one indicated in Beattieellus is the lack of a carina on the posterolateral pronotal angles. However, the structure of its clicking apparatus, featuring a broad and short mesoventral cavity flanked by a pair of prominent tubercles, is also characteristic of Eucnemidae. In eucnemids the lateral rims of this cavity are generally angled in about the middle, the anterior part sloping upwards, and the angle is often strengthened into a short flange, callus or tubercle (Fig. 13, arrow), whereas in Elateridae the cavity is typically longer and narrower and its lateral rims are not angled or produced in the middle. We therefore assign Beattieellus to the Eucnemidae. Among the Australian eucnemid fauna, a comparable development of the clicking apparatus as in Beattieellus occurs in Fornax Laporte, 1835 and Nematodes Berthold, 1827. The former genus contains some species of similarly small size, but they have a relatively larger prothorax and do not appear to be represent the same genus as Beattieellus, which we therefore place in a new one. Assignment of Beattieellus to a eucnemid subfamily is not possible due to the lack of the relevant diagnostic characters (Muona 1993a) being visible in the fossil.

Genus Beattieellus gen. n. Type species: Beattieellus jurassicus sp. n. Description. Body elongate, approximately 3.3 times longer than wide. Head small, partly retracted under pronotum, only shortly visible in dorsal view; anterior margin arcuate. Antennae not preserved. Prothorax inversely parabolic in outline, anteriorly broadly rounded, lateral margins feebly arched; postero-lateral corners strongly and sharply projecting, evidently without carina; surface not evidently sculptured or punctate. Scutellar shield not discernible. Elytra flat dorsally, declivous laterally, apex acute; each with apparently nine striae of shallow cell-like punctures extending from base to apex, diminishing in size towards apex; striae 1���7 on disc, number of punctures not countable, striae 8���9 on lateral declivity; intervals narrow, about half as wide as striae, apical confluences not discernible. Procoxae indicated but not clear, apparently subglobular, separated by about their width, by a short broad prosternal process; forelegs not discernible. Mesanepisterna and mesepimera not discernible; metanepisterna long, narrow, subparallel; metepimera evidently not exposed. Mesoventrite short; mesocoxae subcircular in outline, anteriorly separated by broad round concavity (evidently part of clicking apparatus) flanked by a pair of short conical protuberances; mesofemora short, anteriorly slightly rounded, evidently flattened; mesotibiae apparently short, narrow, flat, retractable against femora; tarsi 5-segmented, slender. Metaventrite long, navicular, without distinct discrimen; metacoxae long, narrow, slanting anteriad, medially contiguous, with coxal plate covering femora and tibiae in repose; metafemora long, slender, flattened, anterior margin curved, almost reaching side of body; metatibiae shorter than metafemora, slender, straight, narrow, flattened, folding against metafemora, apical spurs not discernible; tarsi 5-segmented, slender, straight, as long as metafemora. Abdomen strongly convex, with five ventrites but their outlines and sutures not clearly discernible. Name derivation. The genus is cordially named for our colleague Robert Beattie, who has led the palaeoentomological excavations at the Talbragar Fish Bed for many years and discovered numerous magnificent specimens in the process, including most of the ones described here. His dedication to the project and his inextinguishable enthusiasm in exploring this Jurassic entomofauna on every excursion have been a great inspiration to us. The gender of the name is masculine. Remarks. The salient characters of Beattieellus (the general fusiform body form, the acutely projecting posterolateral angles of the prothorax embracing the elytral humeri, the mesoventrite with an apparent clicking apparatus and the metacoxae with well-developed coxal plates) indicate that it is an elateroid belonging in either the family Elateridae or Eucnemidae. These two families differ mainly in the following characters: in Elateridae the labrum is free, the pedicel of the antennae is inserted apically into the scape, the posterolateral pronotal angles are usually dorsally carinate and the last two abdominal ventrites are freely articulated, whereas in Eucnemidae the labrum is concealed (except in Anischiinae), the pedicels are inserted apicolaterally into the scapes, the pronotal angles have no carina and the last two abdominal ventrites are fused. All these features are difficult to ascertain in compression fossils, and the only one indicated in Beattieellus is the lack of a carina on the posterolateral pronotal angles. However, the structure of its clicking apparatus, featuring a broad and short mesoventral cavity flanked by a pair of prominent tubercles, is also characteristic of Eucnemidae. In eucnemids the lateral rims of this cavity are generally angled in about the middle, the anterior part sloping upwards, and the angle is often strengthened into a short flange, callus or tubercle (Fig. 13, arrow), whereas in Elateridae the cavity is typically longer and narrower and its lateral rims are not angled or produced in the middle. We therefore assign Beattieellus to the Eucnemidae. Among the Australian eucnemid fauna, a comparable development of the clicking apparatus as in Beattieellus occurs in Fornax Laporte, 1835 and Nematodes Berthold, 1827. The former genus contains some species of similarly small size, but they have a relatively larger prothorax and do not appear to be represent the same genus as Beattieellus, which we therefore place in a new one. Assignment of Beattieellus to a eucnemid subfamily is not possible due to the lack of the relevant diagnostic characters (Muona 1993a) being visible in the fossil., Published as part of Oberprieler, Rolf G., Ashman, Lauren G., Frese, Michael & ��lipi��ski, Adam, 2016, The first elateroid beetles (Coleoptera: Polyphaga: Elateroidea) from the Upper Jurassic of Australia, pp. 177-191 in Zootaxa 4147 (2) on pages 181-182, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4147.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/260627, {"references":["Muona, J. (1993 a) Review of the phylogeny, classification and biology of the family Eucnemidae (Coleoptera). Entomologica scandinavica, Supplement 43, 1 - 133."]}

The larvae of Anischia Fleutiaux and Perothops Laporte are described. Cladistic analyses based on adult and larval morphology, as well as CO1 sequence data, place both genera in the Eucnemidae clade within the Elateroidea (sensu stricto). The subfamily Anischiinae Fleutiaux, 1936 is placed in the family Eucnemidae in a clade containing the more derived eucnemid subfamilies (Melasinae, Eucneminae and Macraulacinae), while Perothops and Phyllocerus Lepeletier & Serville represent subfamilies basal to the remaining eucnemid taxa. The genus Afranischia Basilewsky, 1955 is synonymized with Anischia Fleutiaux, 1896, and Anischia boliviana Fleutiaux is selected as the type species of the latter. Three new species are described: Anischia bicolor (New Caledonia), Anischia kuscheli (New Caledonia) and Anischia monteithi (NE Australia), and Anischia stupenda Fleutiaux, 1897 is recorded from Australia. Anischia crassicornis Champion, 1897 is synonymized with Anischia mexicana Fleutiaux, 1896. One new combination is made, Anischia ruandana (Basilewsky, 1955).