Smicripidae is a family of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, in the superfamily

Cucujoidea Cucujoidea is a superfamily of beetles. This group formerly included all of the families now included in the superfamily Coccinelloidea. They include some fungus beetles and a diversity of lineages of "bark beetles" unrelated to the "true" bark ...

. The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...

for this family is palmetto beetles. The family only has one extant genus, ''

Smicrips ''Smicrips'' is a genus of palmetto beetles in the family Smicripidae Smicripidae is a family of beetles, in the superfamily Cucujoidea. The common name for this family is palmetto beetles. The family only has one extant genus, '' Smicrips,'' ...

,'' with six extant species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas and extinct species from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

of Europe and one extinct genus, '' Mesosmicrips,'' known from the mid

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

(earliest Cenomanian) aged

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. ...

. ''Smicrips'' larvae are usually found amongst decaying vegetation, while adults are typically found on infloresences (flower clusters), especially those of Arecaceae (palms), although associations with flowers of Fabaceae (legumes),

Passifloraceae The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches a ...

, Bombacaceae and Cactaceae (cactus) have also been recorded. Their diet is unknown.

References

External links

* Cucujoidea families {{Cucujoidea-stub