The Omalisinae (formerly family Omalisidae)
are a small
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
of morphologically derived
elaterid beetles. The Omalisinae were long considered an independent family in the deprecated family
Cantharoidea (more closely related to soft-bodied beetles like fireflies, than click beetles), and later a family in the
Elateroidea, but molecular phylogenies have demonstrated the morphological similarity of Omalisinae to other soft bodied beetles is a case of parallel evolution (
homoplasy
Homoplasy, in biology and phylogenetics, is the term used to describe a feature that has been gained or lost independently in separate lineages over the course of evolution. This is different from homology, which is the term used to characterize ...
) of their soft bodies, rather than an
apomorphy
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel Phenotypic trait, character or character state that has evolution, evolved from its ancestral form (or Plesiomorphy and symplesiomorphy, plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy sh ...
. Members of this beetle subfamily have been reported to have
bioluminescent
Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...
organs on the larvae, although no recent publications have confirmed this. Some recent evidence indicated 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 a clade comprising the families
Rhagophthalmidae
The Rhagophthalmidae are a family of beetles within the superfamily Elateroidea. Members of this beetle family have bioluminescent organs on the larvae, and sometimes adults, and are closely related to the Phengodidae ( American glowworm beetles ...
and
Phengodidae
The beetle family Phengodidae is known also as glowworm beetles, whose larvae are known as glowworms. The females and larvae have bioluminescent organs. They occur throughout the New World from extreme southern Canada to Chile, numbering over ...
(glowworm beetles),
[L. Bocak, M. Motyka, M. Bocek, M. Bocakova (2018) Incomplete sclerotization and phylogeny: The phylogenetic classification of ''Plastocerus'' (Coleoptera: Elateroidea). ] however a more comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on genome sequences strongly supported the Omalisinae as being contained within the Elateridae.
Species
* Genus ''
Omalisus''
Geoffroy, 1762
** ''
Omalisus flavangulus''
(Spåth, 1898)
** ''
Omalisus fontisbellaquaei''
Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785
** ''
Omalisus graecus''
(Pic, 1901)
** ''
Omalisus minutus''
(Pic, 1938)
** ''
Omalisus nicaeensis''
(Lesne, 1921)
** ''
Omalisus nigricornis''
(Reitter, 1881)
** ''
Omalisus sanguinipennis''
(Laporte de Castelnau, 1840)
** ''
Omalisus taurinensis''
(Baudi, 1871)
** ''
Omalisus unicolor''
(Costa, 1857)
** ''
Omalisus victoris''
(Mulsant, 1852)
* Genus ''
Thilmanus''
Baudi, 1872
** ''
Thilmanus longipennis''
Pic, 1912
** ''
Thilmanus obscurus''
Baudi, 1872
References
;Citations
;Bibliograph
Omalisidae Species Listat Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved on 15 Jul 2011.
Elateridae
Polyphaga subfamilies
{{Elateroidea-stub