Related Research Articles
The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater when threatened. They get their common name from their habit of swimming rapidly in circles when alarmed, and are also notable for their divided eyes which are believed to enable them to see both above and below water. The family includes some 700 extant species worldwide, in 15 genera, plus a few fossil species. Most species are very similar in general appearance, though they vary in size from perhaps 3 mm to 18 mm in length. They tend to be flattened and rounded in cross section, in plain view as seen from above, and in longitudinal section. In fact their shape is a good first approximation to an ellipsoid, with legs and other appendages fitting closely into a streamlined surface. Whirligig beetles belong to the beetle suborder Adephaga, which also includes ground beetles and diving beetles.
The Adephaga are a suborder of beetles, and with more than 40,000 recorded species in 10 families, the second-largest of the four beetle suborders. Members of this suborder are collectively known as adephagans. The largest family is Carabidae which comprises most of the suborder with over 40,000 species. Adephaga also includes a variety of aquatic beetles, such as predaceous diving beetles and whirligig beetles.
Porrorhynchus is a genus of beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Andogyrus is a subgenus of Macrogyrus, a genus of beetles in the family Gyrinidae. It was formerly considered a distinct genus, until a phylogenetic study in 2017 downgraded it in rank to a subgenus. It contains the following species:
Enhydrus is a genus of beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Anagyrinus atavus is an extinct species of fossil beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only species in the genus Anagyrinus. It is known from the Hettangian aged Insektenmergel Formation of Switzerland
Gyrinoides limbatus is an extinct species of beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only species in the genus Gyrinoides.
Metagyrinus is a genus of beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Cretotortor is an extinct genus of fossil beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Mesodineutes amurensis is an extinct species of fossil beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only species in the genus Mesodineutes.
Mesogyrus is an extinct genus of fossil beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Miodineutes is an extinct genus of fossil beetles in the family Gyrinidae, containing the following species:
Spanglerogyrus albiventris is a species of beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only species in the genus Spanglerogyrus. It is native to North America, and was described in 1979 from specimens found in southern Alabama. It is the only living member of the subfamily Spanglerogyrinae, the earliest diverging extant lineage of the gyrinids which also includes Angarogyrus from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Asia.
Copelatus restrictus is a species of diving beetle. It is part of the genus Copelatus in the subfamily Copelatinae of the family Dytiscidae. It was described by Sharp in 1882.
Dineutus loriae is a species of beetle within the family of whirligig beetles, or Gyrinidae. The species name loriae honors the Italian explorer Lamberto Loria (1855–1913). This beetle can reach a length of about 20 mm.
Gyrinus ventralis is a species of beetles from the Gyrinidae family. The scientific name of this species was first published in Kirby.
Gyrinus aeneiceps is a species of beetle from the Gyrinidae family. The scientific name of this species was first published in 1843 by Sturm.
Gyrininae is a subfamily of ground and water beetles in the family Gyrinidae. There are at least 740 described extant species in Gyrininae.
Chimerogyrus gigagalea is a fossil species of beetle in the family Gyrinidae, the only known species in the genus Chimerogyrus. It is known from a larval form found in Cenomanian aged Burmese amber of Myanmar. it was found to be a member of Gyrininae, sister to Dineutini + Orectochilini.
Gyrinus sericeolimbatus, is a species of whirligig beetle found in India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands.
References
- ↑ Gyrinidae Species List at Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog. Texas A&M University. Retrieved on 9 May 2012.
 | This whirligig beetle article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This fossil beetle-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |