Meruidae is a family of aquatic beetles in the suborder
Adephaga
The Adephaga (from Greek ἀδηφάγος, ''adephagos'', "gluttonous") 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 collect ...
, with only one genus and species, ''Meru phyllisae''. The beetle species was first found in the early 1980s.
[Paul J. Spangler, Warren E. Steiner JR (2005) A new aquatic beetle family, Meruidae, from Venezuela (Coleoptera: Adephaga) Systematic Entomology 30 (3), 339–357] and fully described in 2005. At , it is one of the smallest adephagan beetles in the world. A survey of aquatic beetles of Venezuela indicated that ''Meru'' is most common during the wet season, when larger areas of granitic rock surface are covered with water film, which the adult beetles as well as the larvae inhabit.
Etymology
The name Meruidae comes from the local
Pemon people
The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.See pp.112,113 and 178 of ''Venezuela: the Pemon'', in ''Condé Nast Traveler'', December 2008. They are also known as Arecuna, Aricuna Jaricuna, ...
word for waterfall, ''meru''. The beetle was given this name because it can only be found in cascading water.
Distribution
''Meru phyllisae'' is only known from the natural cascading waterfalls in
El Tobogán, Las Amazonas,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. Although it is a remote location that is strongly protected, Venezuelan tourists visit the place because of its uniqueness, causing habitat degradation.
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q928744, from2=Q14623725, from3=Q140667
Adephaga