Scarabaeiformia

• Overview
• Taxonomy
• Families
• References
• Sources

Overview

Taxonomy

The Infraorder Scarabaeiformia is further organized into finer groupings including:

• Family (30): Aegialiidae · Agyrtidae · Belohinidae · Ceratocanthidae · Dasyceridae · Diphyllostomatidae · Georyssidae · Geotrupidae · Glaphyridae · Glaresidae · Histeridae · Hybosoridae · Hydraenidae · Hydrophilidae · Leiodidae · Leptinidae · Lucanidae · Micropeplidae · Ochodaeidae · Passalidae · Pleocom idae · Pselaphidae · Ptiliidae · Scarabaeidae · Scydmaenidae · Silphidae · Sphaeritidae · Staphylinidae · Synteliidae · Trogidae

Families

Aegialiidae

[more]

Agyrtidae

Agyrtidae or primitive carrion beetles are a small family of polyphagan beetles They are found in mostly temperate areas of the northern hemisphere and in New Zealand. They are feeding on decaying organic material. [more]

Belohinidae

Belohina inexpectata is a polyphagan beetle and the sole member of family Belohinidae. It is endemic to southern Madagascar. Only a few specimens of this species are known. [more]

Ceratocanthidae

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Dasyceridae

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Diphyllostomatidae

The false stag beetles (Diphyllostoma) are a group of three species of rare beetles known only from California. Almost nothing is known of their life history beyond that the adults are diurnal and females are flightless; larvae have not been observed. [more]

Georyssidae

Georissus, also called minute mud-loving beetles, is the only genus in the beetle family Georissidae (or Georyssidae). They are tiny insects living in wet soil, often near water. Found on every continent except Antarctica. [more]

Geotrupidae

Geotrupidae (from Greek geos^[], earth, and trypetes, borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called dor beetles or earth-boring dung beetles. Most excavate burrows in which to lay their eggs. They are typically detrivores, provisioning their nests with leaf litter (often moldy), but are occasionally coprophagous, similar to dung beetles. The eggs are laid in or upon the provision mass and buried, and the developing larvae feed upon the provisions. The burrows of some species can exceed 2 metres in depth. [more]

Glaphyridae

Glaphyridae is a family of beetles, commonly known as The bumble bee scarab beetles. There are eight genera with about 80 species distributed worldwide. [more]

Glaresidae

Glaresis is a genus of beetles, sometimes called "enigmatic scarab beetles", in its own family, the Glaresidae. It is closely related to scarab beetles. Although its members occur in arid and sandy areas worldwide (except Australia), only the nocturnal adults have ever been collected (typically at lights), and both the larvae and biology of Glaresis are as yet unknown. Due to their narrow habitat associations, a great number of these species occur in extremely limited geographic areas, and are accordingly imperiled by habitat destruction. [more]

Histeridae

Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as Clown beetles or Hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven tergites exposed, and their elbowed antennae with clubbed ends. These predatory feeders are most active at night and will fake death if they feel threatened. This family of beetles will occupy almost any kind of niche throughout the world. Hister beetles have proved useful during forensic investigations to help in time of death estimation. Also, certain species are used in the control of livestock pests that infest dung and to control houseflies. Because they are predacious and will even eat other Hister beetles, they must be isolated when collected. [more]

Hybosoridae

Hybosoridae, sometimes known as the scavenger scarab beetles, is a family of scarabaeiform beetles. The 210 species in 33 genera occur widely in the tropics, but little is known of their biology. [more]

Hydraenidae

Hydraenidae is a family of very small aquatic beetles with a worldwide distribution. These beetles are generally 1-3 mm in length (although some species reach 7 mm) with clubbed antennae. They do not swim well and are generally found crawling in marginal vegetation. Most are phytophagous but a few saprophagous and predatory species are known. [more]

Hydrophilidae

Hydrophilidae , also called water scavenger beetles, is a family of chiefly aquatic beetles. Aquatic hydrophilids are notable for their long , which are longer than their antennae. Several of the former subfamilies of Hydrophilidae have recently been removed and elevated to family rank; Epimetopidae, Georissidae (= Georyssinae), Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, and Spercheidae (= Sphaeridiinae). Some of these formerly-included groups are primarily terrestrial or semi-aquatic. [more]

Leiodidae

Leiodidae is a family of beetles with around 3800 described species found worldwide. Members of this family are commonly called round fungus beetles due to the globular shape of many species, although some are more elongated in shape. They are generally small or very small beetles (less than 10 mm in length) and many (but not all) species have clubbed antennae. [more]

Leptinidae

[more]

Lucanidae

Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies Some species grow up to over 12 cm (4.8 in), but most are about 5 cm (2 in). [more]

Micropeplidae

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Ochodaeidae

Ochodaeidae, sometimes known as the sand-loving scarab beetles, is a small but widely-distributed family of scarabaeiform beetles. [more]

Passalidae

Passalidae is a family of beetles known variously as "bessbugs", "bess beetles", "betsy beetles" or "horned passalus beetles". Nearly all of the 500-odd species are tropical; species found in North America are notable for their size, ranging from 20?43 mm, for having a single "horn" on the head, and for a form of social behavior unusual among beetles. [more]

Pleocomidae

The rain beetles are a group of beetles found in the far west of North America. They spend most of their lives underground, emerging in response to rain or snow, thus the common name. Formerly classified in the Geotrupidae, they are currently assigned to their own family Pleocomidae, considered the sister group to all the remaining families of Scarabaeoidea. The family contains a single extant genus, Pleocoma, and one extinct genus, Cretocoma, described in 2002 from Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia. [more]

Pselaphidae

Pselaphinae is a subfamily of small (usually less than 2.5 mm long) beetles. The group was originally regarded as a separate family, named Pselaphidae. Newton and Thayer (1995) placed them in the Omaliine group of the family Staphylinidae, based on shared morphological characters. [more]

Ptiliidae

Ptiliidae is a family of very tiny beetles with a worldwide distribution. This family contains the smallest of all beetles, with a length of 0.5 mm, and even the largest members of the family do not exceed 2 mm. The weight is approximately 0.4 milligrams. [more]

Scarabaeidae

The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide. The species in this large family are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family is fairly unstable, with numerous competing theories, and new proposals appearing quite often. It is probable that many of the subfamilies listed here will no longer be recognized very much longer, as they will likely be reduced in status below subfamily rank, or elevated to family status (the latter is most likely, e.g., with the family "Melolonthidae" already appearing in some recent classifications). Other families have been removed recently, and are nearly universally accepted (e.g., Pleocomidae, Glaresidae, Glaphyridae, Ochodaeidae, Geotrupidae, ) [more]

Scydmaenidae

Scydmaenidae is a family of small beetles, commonly called ant-like stone beetles or scydmaenids. These beetles occur worldwide, and the family includes some 4,500 species in about 80 genera. [more]

Silphidae

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Sphaeritidae

Sphaerites is a genus of beetles, the only genus in the family Sphaeritidae, sometimes called the false clown beetles. It is closely related to the clown beetles but with distinct characteristics. There are four known species, widespread in temperate area but not commonly seen. [more]

Staphylinidae

The rove beetles are a large family (Staphylinidae) of beetles, primarily distinguished by their short elytra that leave more than half of their abdomens exposed. With over 46,000 species in thousands of genera, the group is the second largest family of beetles after the Curculionidae (the true weevils). It is an ancient group, with fossil rove beetles known from the Triassic, 200 million years ago. [more]

Synteliidae

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Trogidae

The (Trogidae) or hide beetles are a family of beetles with a distinctive warty or bumpy appearance. Found worldwide, the family includes about 300 species contained in three genera. [more]

At least 444 species and subspecies belong to the Family Trogidae.

More info about the Family Trogidae may be found here.

References

Sources

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