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Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently. The largest of all families, the Curculionidae (weevils), with some 83,000 member species, belongs to this order. 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.
The longhorn beetles are a cosmopolitan family of beetles, typically characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body. In various members of the family, however, the antennae are quite short and such species can be difficult to distinguish from related beetle families such as the Chrysomelidae. The family is large, with over 26,000 species described, slightly more than half from the Eastern Hemisphere. Several are serious pests. The larvae, called roundheaded borers, bore into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber. A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. The rare titan beetle from northeastern South America is often considered the largest insect, with a maximum known body length of just over 16.7 cm (6.6 in). The scientific name of this beetle family goes back to a figure from Greek mythology: after an argument with nymphs, the shepherd Cerambus was transformed into a large beetle with horns.
The Cucujidae, "flat bark beetles," are a family of distinctively flat beetles found worldwide under the bark of dead trees. The family has received considerable taxonomic attention in recent years and now consists of 59 species distributed in four genera.
Myxophaga is the second smallest suborder of the Coleoptera after Archostemata, consisting of roughly 65 species of small to minute beetles in four families. The members of this suborder are aquatic and semiaquatic, and feed on algae.
Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean, was a French entomologist. A soldier of fortune during the Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general and aide de campe to Napoleon. He amassed vast collections of Coleoptera, some even collected on the battlefield at Waterloo. He listed 22,399 species in his cabinets in 1837—at the time, the greatest collection of Coleoptera in the world. In 1802, he began publishing a catalogue of his vast collection, including 22,000 species names. Dejean was an opponent of the Principle of Priority in nomenclature. "I have made it a rule always to preserve the name most generally used, and not the oldest one; because it seems to me that general usage should always be followed and that it is harmful to change what has already been established". Dejean acted accordingly and often introduced in litteris names, given by himself to replace those already published by other authors. They became invalid. Dejean was president of the Société entomologique de France for the year 1840. In 1834, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died on 17 March 1845.
Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.
Corylophidae is a family of minute hooded beetles, sometimes called minute fungus beetles, in the order Coleoptera. There are about 18 genera and at least 120 described species in Corylophidae.
The Eumolpinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. It is one of the largest subfamilies of leaf beetles, including more than 500 genera and 7000 species. They are oval, and convex in form, and measure up to 10 mm in size. Typical coloration for this subfamily of beetles ranges from bright yellow to dark red. Many species are iridescent or brilliantly metallic blue or green in appearance.
The Disteniidae are a small family of beetles in the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, traditionally treated as a group within the Cerambycidae.
The Oxypeltidae are a small family belonging to the superfamily Chrysomeloidea, widespread in the Andean region of Chile and Argentina. They have traditionally been considered a group within the Cerambycidae.
The Vesperidae are a small family of beetles, normally classified within the family Cerambycidae, of heterogeneous aspect but all characterised by larval stages related to roots of herbaceous plants or trees
Walther Hermann Richard Horn was a German entomologist who specialised in beetles (Coleoptera). He was born in Berlin, where he also died. He is not to be confused with the American entomologist George Henry Horn, another entomologist that studied Coleoptera.
The minute tree-fungus beetles, family Ciidae, are a sizeable group of beetles which inhabit Polyporales bracket fungi or coarse woody debris. Most numerous in warmer regions, they are nonetheless widespread and a considerable number of species occur as far polewards as Scandinavia for example.
Stephan von Breuning was an Austrian entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera, particularly Cerambycidae.
Laemophloeidae, "lined flat bark beetles," is a family in the superfamily Cucujoidea characterized by predominantly dorso-ventrally compressed bodies, head and pronotal discs bordered by ridges or grooves, and inverted male genitalia. Size range of adults is 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) in length. Currently, it contains 40 genera and about 450 species, and is represented on all continents except Antarctica; species richness is greatest in the tropics.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 58 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.
Callirhipidae is a family of cedar beetles in the order Coleoptera. There are about eight genera in Callirhipidae.
Bolboceratidae, the dor beetles, is a family of beetle. It was historically treated as a subfamily of the earth-boring dung beetles, but has been considered a separate family since 1995. Some recent classifications have persisted in treating bolboceratids as a subfamily (e.g.) but these classifications are contradicted by recent phylogenetic studies of relationships indicating that bolboceratids are not closely related to geotrupids.
Rhipiceridae is a family of cedar beetles, also known as cicada parasite beetles, in the order Coleoptera. There are about 7 genera and 20 described species in Rhipiceridae.
Eumolpini is a tribe of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae.
References
- Marshall, G.A.K. 1956: Notes on the Campyloscelinae (Coleoptera Curculionidae). Revue de zoologie et de botanique africaines, 54(3-4): 224–240.
- Alonso-Zarazaga, M.A.; Lyal, C.H.C. 1999: A world catalogue of families and genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) (excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae). Entomopraxis, Barcelona.
