Polyphaga is the largest and most diverse

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

beetle 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 40 ...

s. 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 beetle species discovered thus far. Key characteristics of Polyphaga are that the hind coxa (base of the leg) does not divide the first and second abdominal/ventral plates which are known as

sternites The sternum (: sterna) is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the sub ...

. Also, the notopleural suture (found under the pronotal shield) is not present.

Etymology

The name of ''polyphaga'' is derived from two Greek words: , meaning 'many', and , meaning 'to eat', so the suborder is called the “eaters of many things”.

Classification

The five main infraorders are: *

Bostrichiformia Bostrichiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles. It contains two superfamilies, Derodontoidea and Bostrichoidea, which includes the Dermestidae, Ptinidae, Bostrichidae The Bostrichidae are a family of beetles with more than 700 descri ...

— including furniture beetles and

skin beetle Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles or carpet beetles. Other common names include larder beetles, hide or leather beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,800 species described. Dermestids ha ...

s *

Cucujiformia Cucujiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles, representing most plant-eating beetles. The infraorder contains the seven superfamilies: * Chrysomeloidea (~7 families including longhorn beetles and leaf beetles) * Cleroidea (checkered be ...

— includes

lady beetle Coccinellidae () is a widespread family (biology), family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to Mary, mother of Jesus, mother Mary. Entomologists use the ...

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by Antenn ...

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

checkered beetle Cleridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea. They are commonly known as checkered beetles. The family Cleridae has a worldwide distribution, and a variety of habitats and feeding preferences. Cleridae have many niches and fee ...

s and

leaf beetle The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...

s *

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 ...

— includes

click beetle Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family (biology), family of beetles. Other names include elaters, sna ...

s and

fireflies 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 ...

Scarabaeiformia Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Some of its constituent families are undergo ...

— includes

scarab beetle The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly tre ...

stag beetle Stag beetles comprise the family Lucanidae. It has about 1,200 species of beetles in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections to nomenclature and a c ...

s, and

dung beetles Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. All species of dung beetle belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scara ...

Staphyliniformia Staphyliniformia is a large infraorder of beetles. It contains over 70,000 described species from all regions of the world. Most species occur in moist habitats - various kinds of rotting plant debris, fungi, dung, carrion, many live in fresh wat ...

— includes

rove beetle The rove beetles are a family (biology), family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra (wing covers) that typically leave more than half of their abdominal segments exposed. With over 66,000 species in thousand ...

s and water scavenger beetles Phylogenetic studies have also suggested that Scirtoidea (

Scirtidae Scirtidae is a family of beetles (Coleoptera). These beetles are commonly referred to as marsh beetles, as the larvae are typically associated with stagnant water, but can be found in flowing water. Adults prefer decomposing plant material near ...

Decliniidae Decliniidae is a family of beetles belonging to Scirtoidea. It contains the single genus ''Declinia'' with two species, ''D. relicta'' and ''D. versicolor'', found in the Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Вос ...

), Clamboidea (

Clambidae Clambidae is a family of beetles. They are known commonly as the minute beetlesMajka, C. G., & Langor, D. (2009)Clambidae (Coleoptera) of Atlantic Canada.''Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society'' 5(7), 32-40. or the fringe-winged beetles.< ...

Derodontidae Derodontidae is a family of beetles, in its own superfamily, Derodontoidea, sometimes known as the tooth-necked fungus beetles. Beetles of this family are small, between 2 and 6 mm in length, typically with spiny margins on their pronotum ...

Eucinetidae Eucinetidae is a family (biology), family of beetles, notable for their large coxal plates that cover much of the first ventrite of the abdomen, sometimes called plate-thigh beetles. The family is small for beetles, with about 50 species in 11 ...

), ''

Rhinorhipus ''Rhinorhipus'' is a genus of beetles that contains a single species, ''Rhinorhipus tamborinensis'' from southern Queensland, Australia. It is the sole member of the family Rhinorhipidae and superfamily Rhinorhipoidea. It is an isolated lineage n ...

'' and

Nosodendridae Nosodendridae is a family of beetles, with less than a hundred species in three extant genera, which are found worldwide. '' Nosodendron'', the largest genus, is found in forests and attracted to yeast generated slime on the wounds of trees, and ...

are independent lineages of Polyphaga that lie outside these groups. The internal classification of Polyphaga involves several superfamilies or series, whose constituents are relatively stable, although some smaller families (whose rank even is disputed) are allocated to different clades by different authors. Large superfamilies include

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 ...

Staphylinoidea Staphylinoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It is a very large and diverse group with worldwide distribution. Description Adult staphylinoids are generally small beetles no more than a few millimetres long, though Staphylinidae can reach 50 ...

Scarabaeoidea Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Some of its constituent families are undergo ...

Buprestoidea Buprestoidea is a superfamily of beetles. It contains two families: * Buprestidae Buprestidae is a family (biology), family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy Iridescence, iridescent co ...

Byrrhoidea Byrrhoidea is a superfamily of beetles belonging to Elateriformia that includes several families which are either aquatic or associated with a semi-aquatic habitat. Other than the superfamily Hydrophiloidea, most of the remaining Polyphagan beetle ...

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 ...

, and

Bostrichoidea Bostrichoidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of beetles. It is the type superfamily of the infraorder Bostrichiformia. Description The Bostrichoidea are united by the following features: modified cryptonephridism, the structure of the aedea ...

. The infraorder

includes the vast majority of

phytophagous 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 (nutrition), diet. These more broadly also encompass an ...

(plant-eating) beetles, united by cryptonephric

Malpighian tubule Malpighian is an attribute to several anatomical structures discovered by, described by or attributed to Marcello Malpighi: * Malpighian corpuscle (disambiguation) ** Renal corpuscle, the initial filtering component of nephrons in the kidneys ** ...

s of the normal type, a cone

ommatidium The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The outer part ...

with open

rhabdom The compound eyes of arthropods like insects, crustaceans and millipedes are composed of units called ommatidia (: ommatidium). An ommatidium contains a cluster of photoreceptor cells surrounded by support cells and pigment cells. The outer part ...

, and lack of functional spiracles on the eighth abdominal segment. Constituent superfamilies of Cucujiformia are

Cleroidea Cleroidea is a small Taxonomic rank, superfamily of beetles containing over 10,000 species. Most of the members of the group are somewhat slender, often with fairly soft, flexible elytra, and typically hairy or scaly. Description Cleroidea is ...

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 ...

Tenebrionoidea The Tenebrionoidea are a very large and diverse superfamily of beetles. It generally corresponds to the Heteromera of earlier authors. Taxonomy Tenebrionoidea contains the following families: * Aderidae Winkler 1927 (ant-like leaf beetles) ...

Chrysomeloidea The Chrysomeloidea are an enormous superfamily of beetles, with tens of thousands of species. The largest families are Cerambycidae, long-horned beetles, with more than 35,000 species, and Chrysomelidae, leaf beetles, with more than 13,000 speci ...

, and

Curculionoidea Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...

. Evidently adoption of a phytophagous lifestyle correlates with taxon diversity in beetles, with Cucujiformia, especially

s (

), forming a major radiation.

References

External links

Phylogeny of Insects

Site devoted to Staphyliniformia

site devoted to stag beetles

news article highlighting the damage caused by Longhorn beetles
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polyphaga Insect suborders Extant Triassic first appearances

Etymology

Classification

See also

References

External links