Lara (beetle)

Lara is a genus of Nearctic beetles in the family Elmidae.^[1][2][3][4]

Lara
Lara Avara(wood eating beetle)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Elateriformia
Family:	Elmidae
Subfamily:	Larainae
Genus:	Lara LeConte, 1852
Type species
Lara avara LeConte, 1852
Species
2, see text

Name Lara was also applied to a genus of orthopterans by Otte and Alexander in 1983 (now Musgravia Otte, 1994), and to a genus of harvestmen by González-Sponga in 1987 (now Venezuelana Özdikmen, 2008).^[2][3]

Species

There are two species, the North American wood-eating beetle Lara avara LeConte, 1852 and Lara gehringii Darlington, 1929.^[1][2][3]

Life cycle

In Oregon, the life cycle of Lara avara is 4 to 6 years long, or even more. Adults can be found from May to August and live for about three weeks. They deposit the eggs on submerged wood. The larvae feed on decaying wood, absorbing substances liberated by microbial activity—they lack their own cellulase or endosymbionts.^[4]