The Rhagophthalmidae are a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
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 within the superfamily
Elateroidea
The Elateroidea are a large superfamily of beetles. It contains the familiar click beetles, fireflies, and soldier beetles and their relatives. It consists of about 25,000 species.
Description
Elateroidea is a morphologically diverse group, ...
. Members of this beetle family have
bioluminescent
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
organs on the larvae, and sometimes adults, and are closely related to the
Phengodidae (glowworm beetles), though historically they have been often treated as a
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...
of
Lampyridae
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
, or as related to that family. Some recent evidence suggested that they were the
sister group
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
to the Phengodidae, and somewhat distantly related to Lampyridae, whose sister taxon was
Cantharidae
The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, hence the ...
, but more reliable genome-based phylogenetics placed (Rhagophthalmidae + Phengodidae) as the sister group to the Lampyridae.
Whatever their relationships may be, Rhagophthalmidae are distributed in the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...
, and little is known of their biology. Females are usually wingless and look like larvae, but have an adult beetle's eyes, antennae and legs; in the genus ''
Diplocladon'', they resemble larvae even more, with small light organs on all trunk segments. Larvae and females live in soil and litter and are predaceous; males may be attracted to lights at night.
Genera
* ''
Bicladodrilus''
* ''
Bicladon''
* ''
Dioptoma''
* ''
Diplocladon''
* ''
Dodecatoma''
* ''
Falsophrixothrix''
* ''
Mimoochotyra''
* ''
Mondodrilus''
* ''
Pseudothilmanus''
* ''
Reductodrilus''
* ''
Rhagophthalmus''
References
Elateroidea
Bioluminescent insects
Beetle families
{{Elateroidea-stub