Byrrhoidea
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Byrrhoidea is a superfamily of beetles belonging to
Elateriformia Elateriformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles. The two largest families in this group are buprestids, of which there are around 15,000 described species, and click beetles, of which there are around 10,000 described species. The infraor ...
that includes several families which are either aquatic or associated with a semi-aquatic habitat. Other than the superfamily
Hydrophiloidea Hydrophiloidea, known as water scavenger beetles, is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of beetles. Until recently it included only a single family, the Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles), but several of the subfamilies have been removed and rais ...
, most of the remaining
Polyphaga Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse suborder of beetles. It comprises 144 families in 16 superfamilies, and displays an enormous variety of specialization and adaptation, with over 350,000 described species, or approximately 90% of the b ...
n beetles which are aquatic are in this superfamily.


Description

Adults of many Byrrhoidea have exocone eyes (with expanded corneal lens). The anterior edge of the scutellar shield is often abruptly elevated (except in Psephenidae and Cneoglossidae). A variety of byrrhoids have the first three abdominal ventrites solidly fused together. Larvae of most
Limnichidae Limnichidae, commonly called minute marsh-loving beetles, is a family of beetles belonging to Byrrhoidea. There are at least 30 genera and 350 described species in Limnichidae. They are found worldwide, with the greatest diversity in tropical regi ...
have one pair of anal hooks on the tenth abdominal segment, while Cneoglossidae and Ptilodactylidae have three or more hooks on each side of this segment. Larvae of Lutrochidae and Elmidae, as well as the limnichid genus ''Hyphalus'', have anal gill tufts. Almost all byrrhoid larvae have anterior abdominal spiracles that are biforous (or bilabiate) in shape. The degree of
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
development varies among Byrrhoidea, with macroptery (wings fully developed), brachyptery (wings reduced), microptery (wings reduced to small remnants) and aptery (no wings) all occurring in the superfamily. Within family Elmidae, subfamily Larainae has only macropterous wings, while other wing types are common in subfamily Elminae. Within family Dryopidae, the genera with aquatic or semiaquatic adults are almost always macropterous, while genera with terrestrial adults are almost always apterous and the subterranean '' Stygoparnus'' is micropterous.


Ecology

Byrrhoids mainly occur in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats, including rapid cool streams, underneath rocks and wood in flowing water, waterside vegetation and rocks, emergent vegetation in water, damp soil and sandy shorelines. The Dryopidae are notable in that while their adults live in or near water, their larvae are usually terrestrial. Byrrhoids are generally
herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...
, feeding on
algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
,
moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
,
liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...
,
lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
s or
grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
roots.


Phylogeny

Byrrhoidea in its current state may not be
monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
. Multiple studies have found Buprestoidea to be nested within it. Recent phylogenies have split out the grouping Dryopoidea, including Dryopidae, Elmidae, Limnichidae, Heteroceridae, Chelonariidae, Eulichadidae, Callirhipidae, Ptilodactylidae and the extinct family Mastigocoleidae, with phylogenies finding the group more closely related to
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 ...
than to Byrhhidae.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrrhoidea Beetle superfamilies