Beetles are insects that form the 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 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than 6 mm in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, with most of them in the family Curculionidae. It also includes bark beetles, which while morphologically dissimilar to other weevils in lacking the distinctive snout, is a subfamily of Curculionidae. Some other beetles, although not closely related, bear the name "weevil", such as the biscuit weevil, which belongs to the family Ptinidae.
The Tenebrionoidea are a very large and diverse superfamily of beetles. It generally corresponds to the Heteromera of earlier authors.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 68 described genera and about 500 described species. The family is represented on all continents except Antarctica, and is most diverse at both the generic and species levels in the Old World tropics.
Cerocoma is a Palearctic genus of blister beetle, whose biology is poorly known. As in other members of the family, these insects are hypermetamorphic. Larval hosts of few species were described. Imagines show distinct sexual dimorphism in the feeding apparatus and the antennae. All species in this genus have aposematic colouration.
Mylabris is a genus of beetles in the family Meloidae. It is endemic to the Palearctic realm. The species-rich genus Hycleus was historically confused with Mylabris and have their greatest diversity in the Afrotropics.
Epicauta is a genus of beetles in the blister beetle family, Meloidae. The genus was first scientifically described in 1834 by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean. Epicauta is distributed nearly worldwide, with species native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Surveys have found the genus to be particularly diverse in northern Arizona in the United States. Few species occur in the Arctic, with none farther north than the southern Northwest Territory of Canada.
Hycleus is a genus of blister beetle belonging to the Meloidae family found in Africa and Asia. The genus contains over 400 species, which historically have been confused with the genus Mylabris.
Lytta is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. There are about 70 described species in North America, and over 100 species worldwide.
Hayk Mirzayans was an Iranian Armenian entomologist.
Berberomeloe is a genus within the tribe Lyttini of the family Meloidae, the oil or blister beetles. It includes two species, the red-striped oil beetle, Berberomeloe majalis, and the less flamboyant Berberomeloe insignis.
Stenoria is a genus of blister beetles from the family Meloidae. Their larvae develop as parasitoids and brood parasites of the larvae of solitary bees of the families Megachilidae, Colletidae and Andrenidae. The genus contains more than 50 species They are found in the Palearctic from the Canary Islands east to Afghanistan, Tibet and north western China, and also in southern and eastern Africa.
Actenodia is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. The genus was named and described by Francis de Laporte de Castelnau in 1840.
Tricrania is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. There are at least two described species in Tricrania.
Micrambe, is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Cryptophagidae. The genus contains more than 45 species. Six species are known from Madagascar and Réunion. About 23 species are known from South Africa.
Uloma is a genus of darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. There are at least 50 described species in Uloma.
Tetraonyx is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. There are about nine described species in Tetraonyx.
Tegrodera is a genus of beetles known as iron cross blister beetles and soldier blister beetles. They are in the family Meloidae. There are three described species in Tegrodera.
Mylabris variabilis is a species of blister beetle belonging to the Meloidae family.
Zoltán Kaszab was a Hungarian entomologist and a specialist on the Tenebrionidae and Meloidae beetle families. He worked in the Hungarian Museum from 1950 and retired as its director.
