The Cupedidae are a small family of beetles, notable for the square pattern of "windows" on their elytra, which give the family their common name of reticulated beetles.
Priacma is a genus of beetles in the family Cupedidae. It contains a single extant species, Priacma serrata native to western North America and one fossil species, P. megapuncta from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber. Species previously assigned to the genus from the Yixian Formation of China have been subsequently placed in the separate genus Apriacma.
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.
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 on deadwood.
The Brachypsectridae are a family of beetles commonly known as the Texas beetles. There are only two extant genera, Brachypsectra and Asiopsectra. Brachypsectra has a cosmopolitan distribution, mostly in arid regions, while Asiopsectra is found in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Zygadenia is an extinct genus of archostematan beetles from the Jurassic to Cretaceous. It is considered to be a senior synonym of Notocupes by Kirejtshuk (2020), but other researchers suggest to reserve the genus Zygadenia as a form taxon for isolated elytra that probably belong to the genus Notocupes, while retaining Notocupes as a valid genus for complete body fossils.
Omma is a genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae. Omma is an example of a living fossil. The oldest species known, O. liassicum, lived during the final stage of the Triassic (Rhaetian), over 200 million years ago, though the placement of this species in Omma has been questioned. Numerous other fossil species are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Europe and Asia. The only living species is Omma stanleyi, which is endemic to Australia. Three other extant species endemic to Australia that were formerly part of this genus were moved to the separate genus Beutelius in 2020.Omma stanleyi is strongly associated with wood, being found under Eucalyptus bark and exhibiting thanatosis when disturbed. Its larval stage and many other life details are unknown due to its rarity. Males are typically 14–20 mm in length, while females are 14.4-27.5 mm. Omma stanleyi occurs throughout eastern Australia from Victoria to Central Queensland.
Tetraphalerus is a genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae, It is currently known from two extant species native to South America and several fossil species from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Asia.
2017 in paleoentomology is a list of new fossil insect taxa that were described during the year 2017, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoentomology that were scheduled to occur during the year.
Burmocoleus is an extinct genus of archostematan beetle belonging to the family Ommatidae. It is known from two species, Burmocoleus zhiyuani, which was initially assigned to the genus Brochocoleus. This species was placed into the new genus Burmocoleus by Kirejtshuk, 2020, who also described a new species, Burmocoleus prisnyi. Both species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber from Myanmar. Similar to Stegocoleus, Brochocoleus and Jarzembowskiops it has flat, wide elytral edges, but can be distinguished from these genera in several characters, and is more similar to other ommatids in the characters of the prothorax.
Cionocups is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. It is known from a single species, Cionocups manukyani, found in Cenomanian aged Burmese amber from Myanmar. It was originally considered to be closely related to the genus Cionocoleus, but it is considered a junior synonym of Omma by some subsequent authors.
Clessidromma is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. It currently contains a single species Clessidromma palmeri, known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber of Myanmar. Kirejtshuk (2020) synonymised Lepidomma with Clessidromma and included two additional species in the latter: C. tianae, originally the type species of Lepidomma, and C. zengi, a newly described species. Li et al. (2021) disputed the synonymy of Lepidomma with Clessidromma, maintaining Lepidomma as a separate genus, and transferred C. zengi to a new genus, Kirejtomma, in 2021.
Echinocups is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. It was created in 2020 to house three species originally assigned to Notocupes, E. denticollis, E. neli and E. ohmkuhnlei The genus name refers to the sharp spikes present on the elytra. All three species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber of Myanmar. The status of Echinocups as a distinct genus was contested by Li et al. (2023), who considered the genus Echinocups to be a junior synonym of the genus Notocupes.
Paraodontomma is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle, it is known from three species, P. burmiticum described in 2017, P. szwedoi described in 2018. and P. leptocristatum in 2021. All 3 species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.
Stegocoleus is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. Its distinctive morphology includes a distinctive flat rim on the outer edge of the elytra similar to those of Burmocoleus and Jarzembowskiops, but is distinguished from those genera by a distinctive prothorax. It is known from 3 species found in Cenomanian aged Burmese amber.
Miniomma is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. It is known from a single species, Miniomma chenkuni, from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber from Myanmar. The species is the smallest known ommatid, at less than 2 mm long, compared to Omma, which ranges in length from 6 to 26 mm.
Burmese amber is fossil resin dating to the early Late Cretaceous Cenomanian age recovered from deposits in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar. It is known for being one of the most diverse Cretaceous age amber paleobiotas, containing rich arthropod fossils, along with uncommon vertebrate fossils and even rare marine inclusions. A mostly complete list of all taxa described up until 2018 can be found in Ross 2018; its supplement Ross 2019b covers most of 2019.
Kirejtomma is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle, known from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber of Myanmar. The type and only known species K. zhengi was described in 2020 as a species of Clessidromma, and placed into the new genus in 2021.
Lepidomma is an extinct genus of ommatid beetle. The genus was first described in 2019 for the species L. tianae. Lepidomma was synonymised with Clessidromma by Kirejtshuk, 2020. This synonymy was disputed by Li et al. (2021), who maintained Lepidomma as a separate genus from Clessidromma. Three additional species of Lepidomma were described in 2020 and 2022. All four species are known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber of Myanmar.
Notocupes is an extinct genus of medium-sized archostematan beetles from the Mesozoic Era of Eurasia, including over 50 described species. Historically, the genus was classified as a member of the family Ommatidae, but the presence of characters such as the horizontal mandibular cutting edge, separated procoxae and overlapping abdominal sternites indicate that the genus may have a closer affinity with the family Cupedidae. Notocupes is considered to be a junior synonym of Zygadenia by Kirejtshuk (2020), but other researchers suggest to reserve the genus Zygadenia as a form taxon for isolated elytra that probably belong to the genus Notocupes, while retaining Notocupes as a valid genus for complete body fossils. Most species of Notocupes were described from compression fossils. An additional three species were described from Cenomanian-aged Burmese amber, which were treated as a separate genus, Echinocups, by Kirejtshuk (2020), but Li et al. (2023) consider Echinocups to be a junior synonym of Notocupes. Notocupes has a flattened body, which may suggest that it occupied narrow habitats, such as living under bark. Some species had serrated/spined margins of the carapace, which may have served as a defense against predators, or served as camouflage to resemble bark.
