Cucujus is a genus of beetles in the family Cucujidae, the flat bark beetles. It contains 25 currently recognized species and subspecies excluding the doubtful C. coloniarius.
Description Species of Cucujus are of moderate size (6-25mm), greatly dorso-ventrally compressed, and brightly colored, often red or red and black. Additionally, they can be distinguished from other members of the family by the head being generally wider than the pronotum with prominent temples, and the elongate, inverted male genitalia with a flagellum. The genus occurs throughout the Holarctic region, with indigenous species in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is most diverse in Asia.
Ecology The biology of most species in the genus is poorly known. All life stages live under dead bark, where they apparently are predacious. Larvae also are dorso-ventrally compressed. Cucujus clavipes puniceus, which occurs in western North America, has been the subject of considerable research interest due to its ability to produce natural antifreeze compounds.
Species Cucujus bicolor Smith, 1851 Cucujus chinensis Lee & Sâto, 2007 Cucujus chuensis Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus cinnaberinus Scopoli, 1763 Cucujus clavipes Fabricius, 1781 Cucujus coccinatus Lewis, 1881 Cucujus coloniarius (Olliff, 1885) (syn. of C. bicolor?) Cucujus costatus Zhao & Zhang, 2019 Cucujus elongatus Lee & Pütz, 2008 Cucujus euphoria Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus evangelium Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus grouvellei Reitter, 1877 Cucujus haematodes Erichson, 1845 Cucujus haematodes haematodes Erichson, 1845 Cucujus haematodes caucasicus Motschulsky, 1845 Cucujus haematodes opacus Lewis, 1888 Cucujus janatai Háva, Zahradník & Růžička, 2019 Cucujus kachin Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus kempi Grouvelle, 1913 Cucujus mniszechi Grouvelle, 1874 Cucujus muelleri Bussler, 2017 Cucujus nigripennis Lee & Sâto, 2007 Cucujus puniceus Mannerheim, 1843 Cucujus shennong Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus tibetensis Hsiao, 2020 Cucujus tulliae Bonacci, Mazzei, Horák & Brandmayr, 2012 Cucujus zhengyucheni Jiang & Chen, 2025
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