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Archostemata
The Archostemata are the smallest suborder of beetles, consisting of 50 living species in five families and over 200 described fossil species. They are an ancient lineage with a number of primitive characteristics. Antenna (biology), Antennae may be thread-shaped (filiform) or like a string of beads (moniliform). This suborder also contains the only beetles where both sexes are Neoteny, paedogenic, ''Micromalthus debilis''. Modern archostematan beetles are considered rare, but were more diverse during the Mesozoic. The term "Archostemata" is used more broadly by some authors to include both modern archostematans as well as stem-group beetles like "protocoleopterans", which some modern archostematans closely resemble to due to their Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphic morphology. Genetic research suggests that modern archostematans are a monophyletic group. Some genetic studies have recovered archostematans as the sister group of Myxophaga. A 2009 paper argued that th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described arthropods and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. However, the number of beetle species is challenged by the number of species in Fly, dipterans (flies) and hymenopterans (wasps). Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micromalthus Debilis
The telephone-pole beetle (''Micromalthus debilis'') is a beetle native to the eastern United States and the only known living representative of the otherwise extinct family Micromalthidae. Larvae of the beetle live in decaying wood and can be pests to wooden structures, lending them their common name, the 'telephone-pole beetle.' The larvae of ''Micromalthus debilis'' start as tiny white creatures with well-developed legs, resembling carabid larvae. Larvae bore into moist, decaying chestnut and oak logs, creating galleries as they consume wood fibers. Adult beetles are dark brown to blackish with vestigial reproductive organs. Mating behavior includes sex-role reversal, with females exhibiting more aggression and competition for mates. ''Micromalthus''s evolutionary history dates back millions of years, with fossil records found in various ambers. Their larvae infest timber, weakening structures and attracting fungi, as seen in South African gold mines in the 1930s. The telepho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ommatidae
The Ommatidae are a family of beetles in the suborder Archostemata. The Ommatidae are considered the extant beetle family that has most ancestral characteristics. There are only seven extant species, confined to Australia and South America. However, the geographical distribution was much wider during the Mesozoic spanning across Eurasia and Australia, suggesting that they were widespread on Pangea. So far, over 26 extinct genera containing over 170 species of these beetles have been described. Three extant genera have been assigned to this family: '' Omma,'' '' Tetraphalerus'' and '' Beutelius''. The family is considered to be a subfamily of Cupedidae by some authors, but have been found to be more closely related to Micromalthidae in molecular phylogenies. A close relationship with Micromalthidae is supported by several morphological characters, including those of the mandibles and male genitalia. Due to their rarity, their ecology is obscure, it is likely that their larvae feed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crowsoniellidae
''Crowsoniella'' is a genus of beetles in the order Archostemata. It contains only a single species, ''Crowsoniella relicta'', and is the only member of the monotypic family Crowsoniellidae. It is known only from three male specimens collected in 1973 in the Lepini mountains of central Italy by Roberto Pace. In a degraded pasture, the beetles were found among the roots of a large hawthorn tree, in deep calcareous soil. No other specimens have been found since. At only in length, this species is comparatively small for this suborder. They also feature several unusual morphological features such as missing alae, modified and reduced mouth parts, and smooth elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ... (lacking window punctures characteristic of this suborder). Nothin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micromalthidae
Micromalthidae is an ancient family of small beetles belonging to the suborder Archostemata. The only known living representative is the telephone-pole beetle, ''Micromalthus debilis''. A few extinct species have been described, the oldest being the Late Permian '' Archaeomalthus synoriacos''. It is one of the oldest families of beetles still existing today. ''Micromalthus debilis'' is remarkable for its paedogenetic reproductive strategy which is almost unique in the animal kingdom, with the partial exception of Loricifera Loricifera (from Latin, ''wikt:lorica, lorica'', corselet (armour) + ''ferre'', to bear) is a phylum of very small to microscopic marine cycloneuralian sediment-dwelling animals with 43 described species and approximately 100 more that hav ..., and that could have already evolved in prehistoric Micromalthidae. References Beetle families Archostemata Taxa described in 1913 {{Archostemata-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurodidae
Jurodidae is a family of beetles that was originally described for the extinct genus '' Jurodes'', known from the Middle-Late Jurassic of Asia. In 1996, a living species, '' Sikhotealinia zhiltzovae,'' was discovered in the Sikhote-Alin mountains in southeastern Siberia, and assigned to this family. Their placement is uncertain, but are usually considered archostematans. In one study, ''Sikhotealinia'' and ''Jurodes'' were considered a sister group to all other archostematan beetles. However, other authors have considered their placement within beetles as a whole uncertain, due to their mix characteristics of typical Archostemata, as well as Polyphaga and Adephaga. Subdivision * '' Jurodes'' Ponomarenko 1985 ** †''Jurodes ignoramus'' Ponomarenko, 1985 Ichetuy Formation, Buryatia, Russia, Late Jurassic ( Oxfordian) ** †''Jurodes minor'' Ponomarenko, 1990 Glushkovo Formation, Zabaykalsky, Russia, Late Jurassic (Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protocoleoptera
The Protocoleoptera are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of extinct beetles, containing the earliest and most primitive lineages of beetles. They represented the dominant group of beetles during the Permian, but were largely replaced by modern beetle groups during the following Triassic. Protocoleopterans typically possess prognathous (horizontal) heads, distinctive elytra with regular window punctures, Arthropod cuticle, cuticles with tubercles or scales, as well as a primitive pattern of ventral sclerites, similar to the modern Archostemata, archostematan families Ommatidae and Cupedidae. They are thought to have been Xylophagy, xylophagous and Woodboring beetle, wood boring. Nomenclature Protocoleoptera was originally proposed by Robert John Tillyard in 1924 for the extinct genus ''Protocoleus'', assigned to the family Protocoleidae. ''Protocoleus'' is now considered a member of the extinct order Protelytroptera (a stem-group of the modern Dermaptera, the earwigs), which would m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myxophaga
Myxophaga is the second-smallest suborder of the Coleoptera after Archostemata, consisting of roughly 65 species of small to minute beetles in four families. The members of this suborder are aquatic and semiaquatic, and feed on algae. Description Myxophaga have several diagnostic features: the antennae are more or less distinctly clubbed with usually fewer than nine segments, mesocoxal cavities are open laterally and bordered by a mesepimeron and metanepisternum, the hind wings are rolled apically in the resting positions. Internally, they are characterised by the presence of six malpighian tubules and the testes are tube-like and coiled. Beetles of this suborder are adapted to feed on algae. Their mouthparts are characteristic in lacking galeae and having a mobile tooth on their left mandible. Taxonomy There are four extant families in the suborder Myxophaga divided between two superfamilies, containing about 65 described species, and at least one extinct family. Superfamil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cupedidae
The Cupedidae are a small family of beetles, notable for the square pattern of "windows" on their elytra (hard forewings), which give the family their common name of reticulated beetles. The family consists of about 30 species in 9 genera, with a worldwide distribution. Many more extinct species are known, dating as far back as the Triassic. The family Ommatidae is considered a subfamily of Cupedidae by some authors, but ommatids have been found to more closely related to Micromalthidae in genomic analysis studies. These beetles tend to be elongated with a parallel-sided body, ranging in length from , with colors brownish, blackish, or gray. The larvae are wood-borers, typically living in fungus-infested wood, and sometimes found in wood construction. The larvae eat the fungus-infested dead wood or tree roots while the adults are believed to subsist on pollen and plant sap. Males of '' Priacma serrata'' (western North America) are notable for being strongly attracted to commo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permocupedidae
Permocupedidae is a family of Protocoleopteran stem group beetles. They first appeared during the Early Permian, and were one of the dominant groups of beetles during the Middle Permian. They became rare in the Late Permian, with only one species known from the Triassic, '' Frankencupes ultimus'' from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) Röt Formation of Germany. They are thought to have been xylophagous (wood eating), which is presumed to be the ancestral ecology of beetles. Taxonomy Kirejtshuk (2020) included the following genera in an expanded (''sensu lato'') family, with the traditional (''sensu stricto'') Permocupedidae and related Taldycupedidae as subfamilies Permocupedinae and Taldycupedinae respectively. However, other studies have recovered Talycupedidae as more closely related to crown-group beetles than to Permocupedidae. *'' Afrocupes'' – South Africa: Western Cape (Kenmoore Farm), Whitehill Formation, Permian, Cisuralian, Sakmarian/Artinskian, −290.1–279.5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenomerga Mucida
''Tenomerga'' is a genus of beetles in the family Cupedidae. This genus has about 17 extant species, which are native to the eastern Palearctic, Nearctic and Oriental regions. In a recent phylogenetic analysis, the species '' Tenomerga leucophaea'' was found to form a monophyletic group with '' Cupes capitatus'' and '' Rhipsideigma'', rendering ''Tenomerga'' polyphyletic. Because of this, some researchers have proposed transferring ''T. leucophaea'' to '' Cupes''. Species These 14 species belong to the genus ''Tenomerga'': * '' Tenomerga anguliscutis'' (Kolbe, 1886) * '' Tenomerga cinerea'' (Say, 1831) * ''Tenomerga favella'' Neboiss, 1984 * '' Tenomerga gaolingziensis'' Ge and Yang, 2004 * '' Tenomerga japonica'' (Tamanuki, 1928) * '' Tenomerga kapnodes'' Neboiss, 1984 * '' Tenomerga kurosawai'' Miyatake, 1986 * '' Tenomerga leucophaea'' (Newman, 1839) * '' Tenomerga moultonii'' (Gestro, 1910) * '' Tenomerga mucida'' (Chevrolat, 1844) * ''Tenomerga sibyllae'' (Klapperich, 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
