| Lithocupes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Ommatidae |
| Genus: | † Lithocupes Ponomarenko, 1966 |
Lithocupes is an extinct genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae, known from the Carnian Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan containing the following species: [1]
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.
The Archostemata are the smallest suborder of beetles, consisting 45 living species in five families. They are an ancient lineage with a number of primitive characteristics. Antennae may be thread-shaped (filiform) or like a string of beads (moniliform). This suborder also contains the only beetles where both sexes are paedogenic, Micromalthus debilis. Modern archostematan beetles are considered rare, but were more diverse during the Mesozoic. The term "Archostemata" is used more broadly by some authors to include both modern archostematans as well as stem-group beetles like "protocoleopterans", which some modern archostematans closely resemble to due to their plesiomorphic morphology. Genetic research suggests that modern archostematans are a monophyletic group. Some genetic studies have recovered archostematans as the sister group of Myxophaga.
The Trachypachidae are a family of beetles that generally resemble small ground beetles, but that are distinguished by the large coxae of their rearmost legs. There are only six known extant species in the family, with four species of Trachypachus found in northern Eurasia and northern North America, and two species of Systolosoma in Chile and Argentina. They were much more diverse in the past, with dozens of described species from the Mesozoic.
Hydrophiloidea, known as water scavenger beetles, is a superfamily of beetles. Until recently it included only a single family, the Hydrophilidae, but several of the subfamilies have been removed and raised to family rank. Hydrophiliidae remains by far the largest member of the group, with nearly 3,000 described species. The other families have no more than 400 species. The Histeroidea are closely related and sometimes considered part of a sensu lato Hydrophiloidea. The majority of the clade is aquatic, which is thought to be the ancestral ecology of the group, with some lineages like Sphaeridiinae becoming secondarily terrestrial. Modern representatives of the group first appeared during the Late Jurassic.
Blapsium is an extinct genus of beetles from the Middle Jurassic of England. The only described species is B. egertoni, which is known from a single specimen found by the Earl of Enniskillen at the Taynton Limestone Formation, also known as the Stonesfield Slate. The specimen is deposited in the Natural History Museum, London. It is incompletely preserved, lacking a head, pronotum and legs. It has a broad, convex body. It has a very short metathorax, which suggests that it was possibly apterous.
Catiniidae is a small extinct family of beetles known from the Early Triassic to the Early Cretaceous. The family is usually classified as a member of the suborder Archostemata, but beetles in this family had smooth elytra unlike members of the modern-day families Cupedidae and Ommatidae which have elytra with window punctures.
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.
Brochocoleus is an extinct genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae, known from the Early Jurassic to the Early Late Cretaceous. 9 species are currently recognised, with many species being reassigned to other genera by Kirejtshuk's major systematic revision in 2020.
Eurydictyon is an extinct genus of beetle in the family Ommatidae which contains a single species, Eurydictyon conspicuum. E. conspicuum lived during the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic, between 189.6 and 183.0 Ma. It measured 18 x 8 mm in length and is known only from specimens found in Kyrgyzstan. Eurydictyon may be closely related to the genus Notocupes.
Notocupoides is an extinct genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae, known from the Carnian Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan, containing the following species:
Rhabdocupes is an extinct genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae, known from the Late Triassic Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan, containing the following species:
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.
Cionocoleus is an extinct genus of beetles in the family Ommatidae.
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.
The Protocoleoptera are a paraphyletic group of extinct beetles, containing the earliest and most primitive lineages of beetles. They represented the dominant group of beetles during the Permian, but were largely replaced by modern beetle groups during the following Triassic. Protocoleopterans typically possess prognathous (horizontal) heads, distinctive elytra with regular window punctures, culticles with tubercles or scales, as well as a primitive pattern of ventral sclerites, similar to the modern archostematan families Ommatidae and Cupedidae. They are thought to have been xylophagous and wood boring.
Allophalerus is an extinct genus of beetle in the family Ommatidae. It is known from nine species formerly included in the genus Tetraphalerus.
Diluticupes is an extinct genus of beetle in the family Ommatidae.
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.
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