Cleroidea

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Cleroidea
Temporal range: Jurassic–Recent
Clerid beetle04.jpg
Trogodendron fasciculatum (Cleridae)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Cleroidea
Latreille, 1802
Families

See text.

Anthocomus rufus (Melyridae) Anthocomus rufus side.jpg
Anthocomus rufus (Melyridae)
Airora cylindrica (Trogossitidae) Airora cylindrica P1610617a.jpg
Airora cylindrica (Trogossitidae)

Cleroidea is a small superfamily of beetles containing over 10,000 species. [1] Most of the members of the group are somewhat slender, often with fairly soft, flexible elytra, and typically hairy or scaly.[ citation needed ]

Description

Cleroidea is defined by the following features: adult and larva with mandibular mola absent, larva with basal mandibular process (lacinia mobilis) present), and mala with a pedunculate seta present. [2]

Some cleroids, especially in Cleridae and the melyrid subfamily Malachiinae, have bright aposematic colouration to deter predators. They mimic the appearances of other arthropods that are unpalatable to predators, such as various beetles (blister beetles, leaf beetles, net-winged beetles), stinging Hymenoptera (ants and velvet ants), zygaenid moths and tachinid flies. [3]

There is variation in the degree of sclerotisation within Cleroidea. Some are hard-bodied beetles with fully sclerotised elytra that match the shape of the abdomen (Trogossitidae, Lophocateridae, Peltidae). The melyrid lineage (a group including Melyridae and other families) and the two small families Phloiophilidae and Acanthocnemidae are highly soft-bodied. The Cleridae are intermediately soft-bodied. [3]

Biology

Cleroids can be divided into three main groups based on what they feed on: [1]

Other lifestyles also occur in the superfamily. Phycosecidae scavenge dead animals on bare seashore, while Acanthocnemus nigricans (the sole species of Acanthocnemidae) is attracted to recently burnt wood. [1]

Taxonomy

Families included are: [1]

The melyrid lineage consists of Phycosecidae, Rhadalidae, Mauroniscidae, Prionoceridae and Melyridae. [1]

Most species belong to the families Cleridae and Melyridae, followed by Trogossitidae.

Extinct genera

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cucujoidea</span> Superfamily of beetles

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 beetles (Scolytinae), which are weevils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melyridae</span> Family of beetles

Melyridae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaetosomatidae</span> Family of beetles

Chaetosomatidae is a small family of beetles, in the superfamily Cleroidea. There are three extant genera, two of which are endemic to New Zealand with the other (Malgassochaetus) native to Madagascar. Members of this family are predaceous on wood-boring insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trogossitidae</span> Family of beetles

Trogossitidae, also known as bark-gnawing beetles, are a small family in the superfamily Cleroidea. Many taxa formerly within this family have been removed to other families, such as Lophocateridae, Peltidae, Protopeltidae, Rentoniidae, and Thymalidae. Members of the family are generally predatory and/or feed on fungi, both in adult and larval stages, and are generally associated with wood, being found under bark or inside bored tunnel galleries. There are about 400 species in 25 genera in the family under the new, restricted circumscription, as opposed to 600 species in over 50 genera in the old definition. The oldest fossil assignable to the modern, more restricted definition of the family is Microtrogossita from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar, which has close affinities to the Trogossitini, indicating that the family had already considerably diversified by this time.

<i>Carphurus</i> Genus of beetles

Carphurus is a genus of soft-wing flower beetles in the subfamily Malachiinae and tribe Carphurini. Species are found mainly in Australia, and in Papua-New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egoliinae</span> Subfamily of beetles

Egoliinae is a subfamily of beetles in the family Trogossitidae. Members are native to South America and Australia. They are thought to be predatory.

<i>Grynocharis quadrilineata</i> Species of beetles

Grynocharis quadrilineata is a species of bark-gnawing beetle in the family Lophocateridae.

Mauroniscidae is a family of cleroid beetles, formerly included in the family Melyridae. There are presently five or six genera and roughly 30 described species in Mauroniscidae, all of which are native to the Americas. Almost nothing is known about their biology.

<i>Metaxina</i> Genus of beetles

Metaxina is the only genus in the beetle family Metaxinidae. Its only species is Metaxina ornata. It endemic to the South island of New Zealand, where it is associated with sooty mold growing on Nothofagus trees. Both the larvae and adults are likely predaceous, feeding on insects and other arthropods. It is considered to be a member of the superfamily Cleroidea. Genetic studies have suggested that Metaxina should be considered a member of Chaetosomatidae, rather than constituting its own family.

<i>Peltis</i> Family of beetles

Peltis is a genus of beetles found in North America and Europe, and the sole extant member of the family Peltidae, formerly included in the Trogossitidae. Members of this genus are dark, averaging from brown, to dark brown, to black. They are small, wide, and flat-bodied with wide, ridged elytra. Fossil species of this genus are known from the Eocene aged Florissant Formation of the United States, as well as the Baltic amber of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lophocateridae</span> Family of beetles

Lophocateridae is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cleroidea, formerly included in the Trogossitidae. Members of the group have a variety of ecologies, including as predators of other insects, as fungivores, or are phytophagous.

<i>Thymalus</i> Genus of beetles

Thymalus is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Thymalidae.

<i>Calitys</i> Genus of insects

Calitys is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Trogossitidae. It is the only member of the subfamily Calityinae. The genus was first described by Thomson in 1859. The genus contains two unambiguous species Calitys scabra, which is native to Europe and North America, and Calitys minor, which is native to North America. Some species have been reported from South Africa, but these are disputed. The two unambiguous species live on and under the bark of coniferous trees, where they feed on fungi.

<i>Lobonyx</i> Genus of beetles

Lobonyx is a genus of soft-winged flower beetles in the family Prionoceridae. There are at least 11 described species in Lobonyx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhadalidae</span> Family of beetles

Rhadalidae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea, formerly treated as a subfamily within the family Melyridae. The adults are predators or feed on pollen, while the larvae are probably carnivorous.

<i>Protopeltis</i> Genus of beetles

Protopeltis is a genus of beetles. It contains two species native to New Zealand. It was formerly considered a member of Trogossitidae, but is currently placed as the only member of the family Protopeltidae within the Cleroidea. The larvae have been collected from the fungus infested bark of dead Nothofagus trees. Adult gut contents indicate that they are mycophagous, feeding on probably Hymenochaete fungi. This is also presumably true for the larvae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rentoniidae</span> Family of beetles

Rentoniidae is a family of beetles belonging to Cleroidea. The species were originally included in the family Trogossitidae. They are around 1–2 mm in length, with spherical bodies. Members of the family are native to the Southern Hemisphere, being found in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America. They have been found on flowers, under the bark of dead trees, and in leaf litter, and members are known to be pollenivorous or fungivorous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thymalidae</span> Family of beetles

Thymalidae is a family of beetles in Cleroidea. They were formerly included in Trogossitidae. Members of the subfamily Decamerinae are found in Central and South America, and are associated with flowers, while Thymalus, the only member of the subfamily Thymalinae is found across the Holarctic realm, as well as parts of the Oriental realm, like southern China and Thailand, where they are found associated with the bark of trees. It is assumed that Thymalus larvae feed on fungus in decomposing wood.

<i>Nodopus</i> Genus of beetles

Nodopus is a genus of soft-winged flower beetles in the family Melyridae. There are at least three described species in Nodopus.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gimmel, Matthew L.; Bocakova, Milada; Gunter, Nicole L.; Leschen, Richard A.B. (2019). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the Cleroidea (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia)". Systematic Entomology. 44 (3): 527–558. doi:10.1111/syen.12338. ISSN   0307-6970. S2CID   91437400.
  2. Leschen, Richard A. B. (2010-12-31), Kükenthal, Willy; Leschen, Richard A.B.; Beutel, Rolf G.; Lawrence, John F. (eds.), "9. Cleroidea Latreille, 1802", Coleoptera, Beetles, Volume 2, Morphology and Systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim), DE GRUYTER, pp. 237–239, doi:10.1515/9783110911213.237, ISBN   978-3-11-019075-5 , retrieved 2022-11-24
  3. 1 2 Bocakova, Milada; Bocak, Ladislav; Gimmel, Matthew L.; Motyka, Michal; Vogler, Alfried P. (2016). "Aposematism and mimicry in soft-bodied beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea (Insecta)". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (1): 9–21. doi:10.1111/zsc.12132. S2CID   86024512.
  4. Kolibac, Jiri; Huang, Diying (2019). "New cleroid beetles from the Middle-Late Jurassic of China". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 64. doi: 10.4202/app.00550.2018 . S2CID   134562913.